Wildfire
by MoxiesdenLovesShandy
Summary: Bill Croelick gave Sharon and Andy a tip on someone who may be setting fires in the Los Angeles area. Can they race to find and stop another serial arsonist or is this just another game someone is playing? Story picks up right after the events of Baseball Blowup.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Here's the next story! This story takes place the day after the last events in Baseball Blowup. Croelick has come back into Sharon and Andy's lives. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sharon was sitting at her desk in the middle of the work day wondering if what Bill Croelick had told them the day before held any weight. There were no reports of newly made wildfires in the area. Her team had done some research into the name Croelick gave them, Randall Myers, and they couldn't come up with anything at all. It was like Randall didn't exist.

She stood up from her desk and walked outside to the rest of the office where her team was still working on the research aspect. "There's no one by the name Randall Myers, ma'am," Julio stated as Sharon walked past his desk. "And no reports of any new wildfires starting," Amy stated as Sharon looked at a map of the forests surrounding the Los Angeles area. "Where was the last forest fire located?" Sharon asked out loud, giving anyone on the team the chance to answer her.

"It was around the Burbank area, near La Tuna Canyon Park," Andy stated as he circled the map that was on the Murder Board. "According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the La Tuna wildfire has been extinguished for a couple of days now," Mike added as he read the information off of his computer.

"So, where'd you get this name Commander?" Provenza asked Sharon as he turned around in his chair to face her. Sharon glanced at Andy who had his arms folded across his body as he continued to stand by the board. "It was anonymous, Lieutenant," Sharon answered her second in command. She didn't want to tell her team that the information had come from Bill Croelick, at least not yet. Andy wasn't going to say anything either, unless it came out in his anger at some point during this investigation.

"From the tip line?" Buzz chimed in on the conversation as he sat at his desk next to Mike's. "No, this was not called in to the tip line," Sharon shook her head. That part was true and she figured she could let the all know that much at least. "Maybe we're misspelling Randall Myers?" Sharon suggested and Julio ran another search in the computer database.

"How many different ways can you spell Myers?" Provenza asked as he thought the misspelling of the name was nonsense. "M-A-Y-E-R-S, M-Y-A-R-S, M-A-I-E-R-S," Buzz answered him and was going to keep going with the different spellings but Provenza cut him off. "Okay Buzz, we get the picture, ye gods!" Provenza threw his hands up in the air and turned around in his chair.

Sharon smiled at Provenza but quickly returned to the possible case they had. "Let's try all possible spellings and see what we can come up with," she said and then walked back towards her office. Andy watched her retreat and then went back to his desk. He sat down and thought about how they could move forward in the case without having to bring up Croelick's name.

Croelick reappearing twice now was starting to become a thorn in Sharon's and his sides. If he had just stayed behind bars, they wouldn't be dealing with his anonymous tip right now, and he wouldn't have met Sharon and left those notes to her months ago when they dealt with his return. But then again, if he was still in behind bars, Andy might not have joined Priority Homicide after Brenda gave him the benefit of the doubt when Croelick first reappeared in his life. Andy sighed and ran his hand over his mouth as he sat at his desk.

Sharon sat at her desk and stared out her window overlooking Los Angeles. She had to admit Bill Croelick was as creepy as they came. The way he snuck up on her at Matthew's game yesterday still disturbed her. She shook her head and then heard a knock on her office door. "Come in," she turned around in her chair and saw Provenza walk inside her office.

"Commander," Provenza sat down in front of her desk. "Something's going on with this so-called anonymous tip. Now I saw you glance at Flynn earlier when I questioned it, you two know something else, now I want you to tell me," Provenza demanded as he sat there. Sharon looked at Andy who was still sitting at his desk and she took a deep breath. "Fine, but I'm only telling you for now. I want the team to be objective as possible on this," she looked at Provenza.

"Bring Andy in here," she told him and he stood up and opened her door. "Flynn," Provenza stated quietly enough so only Andy heard him. Andy turned around and wondered what Provenza wanted. Provenza gestured to Andy to join them inside Sharon's office as he took a step back. Andy let out a puff of air before he stood up and joined them in Sharon's office. He could only guess why Provenza was summoning him there. Andy walked in and closed the door behind him. "What's up?" he asked as he looked at Sharon and then Provenza.

"Lieutenant Provenza thinks there is something going on with the anonymous tip we received," Sharon started to say. "Oh," Andy nodded his head as he moved to stand behind Sharon at her desk. "I told him that I wanted the team to be objective as possible on this," Sharon informed him as Andy leaned up against the short filing cabinet. He gestured with his hand to let Sharon know to go ahead and inform Provenza.

"While I was waiting for Andy to join me at Matthew's baseball game yesterday morning, a familiar face showed up and sat down next to me on the bleachers," Sharon started to tell Provenza as he sat there listening to her. "Who was it?" he asked her. "Croelick," Andy chimed in. Provenza shifted in his chair. "Croelick? He's back in LA?" Provenza asked. "I don't think he left," Andy added and then he let Sharon continue to inform Provenza.

"I asked him what he wanted and it's like he was stalling until Andy showed up, which he did," Sharon continued. "Oh, and I'm sure you gave our friendly Firestarter a warm welcome back!" Provenza glanced at Andy. "I grabbed him and pulled him off the bleachers, made sure he didn't have any weapons on him, yeah," Andy stood up and started to walk around her office. He wasn't pacing but he couldn't sit still all of a sudden.

"He told us that we would come across someone who likes to start fires," Sharon leaned back in her chair as she watched Andy walk around her office. "Did he mean himself?" Provenza huffed as he too was now watching Andy. Andy stopped at looked at both of them now. "No, he gave us the name Randall Myers, I just assumed common spelling," Sharon answered bringing Provenza's attention back to her.

"So why did he tell you all of this?" Provenza asked as he turned around to face Sharon again. "Because he wanted us to make sure that we knew it wasn't him setting another fire," Sharon said. "Yeah, like we should believe him," Andy scoffed under his breath, loud enough that both Sharon and Provenza heard him. "Regardless, that's why I want the team to remain objective on this," Sharon glanced at Andy and then back at Provenza.

"So we need to find this Randall Myers guy before he starts a fire?" Provenza questioned. "Yes," Sharon answered simply. "We don't even know where to start?" Provenza scoffed as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, I figured we'd start with the name for now. Once we get that, everything else should fall into place," Sharon informed him. "Okay, I'll agree to not tell the rest of the team, for now, but if things go south, and they can, very quickly," Provenza started to say. "Understood," Sharon nodded and watched Provenza walk out of her office.

Andy stayed in her office for a couple of more minutes. "Sharon, do I have your permission to run a set of fingerprints we obtained months ago?" he asked her as he stood in front of her desk. She looked at him, but didn't understand where he was going with this request. "What do you mean?" she asked him. "Remember when we were stopped at the light heading into work and someone pounded on the hood of our car?" Andy said as he was hoping that would jog her memory.

"Yes," she answered and wondered where he was taking this. "Well, there was a protest at City Hall that morning, remember the crowds of people standing in front there?" he continued and she nodded. "I looked up what the protest was about, before I came in here, and it had something to do with the Fire Department's pension," Andy concluded. "So you think this Randall Myers could be a firefighter?" Sharon asked as she worked this theory through her head.

"Possibly, I mean, some of them do like playing with fire and we have seen firefighters starting fires before," Andy sat down on the chair. Sharon looked away from him for a second and then returned to his face. "And you think by running these prints, it could lead us to," she stated, hinting for Andy to finish. "Someone who was at that protest?" Andy finished the thought.

"Fine, but I don't want you running it here?" Sharon stated. "Why not?" he questioned her. "Mike already knows about the fingerprints, he lifted them from our car back then," Andy explained to her. Sharon thought about it again. "Run them on your computer only," she told him. "Fine," he nodded and then stood up and left her office.

Andy sat down in his chair and looked at everyone in the Murder Room. They were busy trying to find this Randall Myers person. He wondered how long Sharon would sit on his theory as he pulled out the fingerprint card that had been sitting in his desk drawer all that while. He started at it for a minute before opening the application on his computer. He then scanned it into the program and clicked 'run'. Less than five minutes later, he was staring at Croelick's face on his computer as the fingerprints they had pulled off of their car months ago matched his fingerprints.

"Son of a," Andy muttered to himself and looked around the room. He got up from his desk and knocked on Sharon's door again. "Come in," he heard her say and he opened the door. "You're going to want to come and see this," he suggested to her and left the door open while he returned to his desk. Sharon joined him there and saw him point to his computer screen. "What?" she couldn't believe the fingerprints belonged to Croelick. She glanced at Andy and then at the rest of the squad.

Before she could finish her thought, Julio interrupted everyone with some new information he discovered. "Hey, I think I may have found Randall," he stated as he stood up and walked over to the printer to pick up the information he sent there. Sharon started to walk over to the Murder Board. Andy turned off his computer monitor as he didn't want anyone else to see Croelick's picture and fingerprints before he joined Sharon.

"Meet Randall Myers, spelled M-E-I-J-E-R-S, he's 42 years old and resides in Crenshaw," Julio placed Randall's picture up on the Murder Board. "Does he have an arrest record?" Sharon asked as she looked at the picture. "A very minor one, ma'am, when he was 18 he got into some trouble, was arrested a couple of times," Julio commented and then he sat down at his desk.

"What kind of trouble?" Sharon inquired further. Julio pulled up the arrest record on Randall. "Petty theft, shoplifting, and hang on a second," Julio stated as he read the report further. "Arson, ma'am," he read the report again. "Arson?" Sharon shifted and walked over to Julio's desk to read the report as well. "The charges were dropped in 1993," Julio read out loud. Sharon placed her hands on her hips and glanced over to where Andy was standing.

"Let me guess, he's a firefighter," Andy stated and Julio read through the report further. "You're right Lieutenant, how'd you know?" Julio looked at him. "Lucky guess," Andy shrugged his shoulders and then wrote that information on the Murder Board underneath Randall's picture. "According to this, he works for the LA County Fire Department," Mike stated as he brought up some more information on his computer.

"We can't bring him in yet for questioning as we don't know exactly what he did, or if he did anything at all," Sharon stated to her team as she didn't want to instigate a war between departments. She wanted to have all of the facts before they went to Randall.

"We could set up surveillance, follow him and see where he goes, especially when he's off duty," Amy suggested. "That's going to require a lot of man hours," Sharon stated knowing that the city was in a budget crisis again and they were just barely squeezing any overtime money as it was. "SIS could help us. I'm sure Lieutenant Cooper would be glad to do it," Amy offered that. Sharon thought about it and agreed.

"Call Lieutenant Cooper and have him stop by my office when he gets a chance, meanwhile, I would like to know everything about this Randall Meijers that we can find out," Sharon stated and then walked back towards her office. Amy nodded and picked up her phone to call Cooper.

"Flynn!" Provenza got Andy's attention before he returned to his desk. "A word please?" Provenza gestured to the hallway to speak and Andy walked towards the door. The two of them walked into the break room and made sure no one else was inside.

"Why doesn't she want the rest of the team to know about Croelick being the anonymous tip?" Provenza asked him. "You were in her office, she told you why. She wants the team to remain objective in this. If they found out that Croelick was behind the tip, then hell, we all could jump to the same conclusions," Andy defended Sharon's decision. Provenza knew his friend wasn't going to budge an inch on that so he changed the topic.

"How'd you know this Randall guy would be a firefighter?" he asked Andy as they continued to stand in the break room. Andy looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "We all know that firefighters like to play with fire, right? So why wouldn't this guy be a firefighter? You and I have seen it before," Andy defended his conclusion to his friend. Provenza just kept looking at Andy. He felt that he was still holding something back.

"I don't believe you," Provenza came out and said it. Andy had looked hurt when he heard him say that. "What do you mean you don't believe me?" Andy questioned him. "You're holding back something Flynn, now what is it?!" Provenza demanded. Andy stared at his friend. "Fine," Andy gritted his teeth. "When you left Sharon's office earlier, I stayed in there to run a theory that I had thought about past her," Andy explained to him.

"A couple of months back, I was driving Sharon to work in the morning and we had come to a stop at the light on Spring and First. As we were waiting for the light to change, there were crowds of people crossing the street and heading over to City Hall. I looked down the street and saw a lot of pretesting going on. Then, one of the people walking in front of the car decided to pound on the hood. It scared both of us as we didn't know what happened. The person kept on walking towards the protests. I wanted to go after them but Sharon said to leave it alone," Andy explained.

"Anyway, long story short," Andy continued. "Too late," Provenza muttered as he listened and Andy gave him a look. "I had Mike pull the fingerprints from the hood of the car, which he did but Sharon didn't want us running them," he continued. "So what does that have to do with anything?" Provenza asked.

"Well, that protest that was going on in front of City Hall was for the Fire Department pension. So, I thought that if we ran those prints that we lifted, it might have led us to someone who was at that protest," Andy finished hoping Provenza was still following his story. "But, let me guess, it didn't," Provenza concluded. "How'd you know?" Andy asked him.

"Because I saw you get up and bring the Commander back to your desk, I could only assume you showed her who the prints came back to," Provenza answered him. Andy stood there and nodded. "So who did the prints come back to?" Provenza asked him, waiting for his answer. Andy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Croelick," he mumbled. "Alright, I've heard enough!" Provenza said as he started to leave the break room.

"Wait a minute! Where are you going?" Andy said hot on his tail as he followed him out. "I'm going to go talk to the Commander," Provenza stated as he opened the door to the office. "Wait!" Andy said and reached his hand to stop Provenza from entering the office. "How do you know he's not playing the two of you, Flynn?" Provenza snapped back at him. "You of all people should be the first one to call his bluff!" Provenza added and Andy looked at him. Provenza then walked into the Murder Room and knocked on Sharon's door. He didn't wait for her to say anything; he just opened it and saw her sitting at her desk.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 2

"Lieutenant, there better be a good reason why you are barging into my office!" Sharon stared at Provenza as he stood there. Andy was behind Provenza and she also glanced at him, but focused more on Provenza. "Commander, with all due respect, and I truly mean that, how do you know Croelick is not playing the both of you?" Provenza came right out and said it.

"Close the door," she nodded to Andy and he closed the door behind him. He could only imagine what the rest of the team thought as they watched from afar. "Okay Lieutenant, what seems to be on your mind," she asked Provenza. "We never heard back from Croelick when he left after he first re-appeared last year and now all of a sudden, he shows his face again in LA, first with your car, and now, a couple of months later, at Matthew's ball game," Provenza stated.

"So, you think he's teasing us?" Sharon asked him as she put her pen down on her desk and clasped her hands together. "I just think all of a sudden, it's convenient for him to show up after there were wildfires in the area of Southern California and seek you two out to tell you that he didn't set them," Provenza stated as he pointed his finger at both of them.

"This is why I wanted the anonymous tip to remain anonymous. We all need to be objective here. Having Croelick on our minds isn't helping us focus on what's at hand. We have the name of the person, we know some information regarding him, now let's pursue this lead until we can't anymore and then we will reassess," Sharon informed Provenza and basically put him in his place as her second in command.

"You're the boss!" Provenza said and then glanced at Andy. "And you don't have anything to say in this matter?" he questioned him. Andy stood there. "Do you think I like this? Every time he sneaks back in and shows his face to me, I want to pummel him to the ground!" Andy gritted his teeth as he said that with some sort of finesse. Andy caught Sharon's eyes as he said the last part. "Which you will not do unless it is warranted to do so," Sharon sternly informed him.

She then looked at both of her Lieutenants. "Are we done here?" she asked them. Provenza looked at her and then at Andy. "Yes, Commander," he quietly said and bowed his head as he waited for her direction. "Good, it looks like Amy got a hold of Lieutenant Cooper," Sharon said as she stood up and walked over to her other door. She opened it and gestured for her Lieutenants to walk out into the office. She closely followed them out to hopefully brief Lieutenant Cooper on how they wanted to approach this surveillance.

"Lieutenant Cooper, thank you for joining us on such short notice," Sharon said as she walked over to where he was standing next to Amy's desk. "Happy to help Commander in any way that I can," Cooper said as he shook her hand. Sharon looked around at everyone. It was at this point that Andy noticed everything was missing off of the Murder Board. "Julio, are we ready?" Sharon asked Julio as he made his way back to the office. "Yes ma'am, everything is set up in the conference room," he stated and then watched everyone walk over to the conference room just off of Sharon's office.

Sharon led them inside and saw that the portable erase board was in there along with all of the information they had gathered so far regarding Randall Meijers. If this guy was truly an arsonist, then she wanted as little as possible interaction with other members of the LAPD. People had friends who worked at the LA County Fire Department and the last thing she wanted was this guy to be tipped off.

The door closed behind them and then they started to discuss the possible case. "Randall Meijers resides in the Crenshaw neighborhood and works as a firefighter for the LA County Fire Department," Andy explained as Cooper listened. "And you want him under surveillance for what exactly?" Cooper asked Sharon and the rest of the team. "We received an anonymous tip deemed pretty credible that Meijers likes to set wildfires and he is planning on setting a big one in LA," Sharon explained and Cooper listened.

"We don't know where he's going to set it as this tip of ours didn't give us that information," Provenza said and emphasized the word 'tip' as he glanced at Sharon. "That's not a problem. I can put a tail on him, to his work, from his work, wherever he goes in between if you want that Commander," Cooper informed Sharon. Sharon nodded in agreement. "The only problem I foresee is if his company gets a call somewhere, it will be hard to follow discreetly then," Cooper added as he looked over the board and the map that showed where Randall resides and what station he works in.

"We need probable cause to get a search warrant in order to search his residence, which we don't have yet," Sharon stated as she turned around and looked at her team. "Lieutenant Flynn, see if you can run his financials, maybe he purchased something that he could start a fire with?" Sharon told Andy. Andy nodded and knew that if she was calling him by his rank and last name, she was still mad about Provenza's outburst in her office earlier.

"Commander, I'm probably going to need some extra bodies for this surveillance, if you could spare some people," Cooper asked Sharon. "Sure Lieutenant, we'll all participate in this," she informed him. "I'll figure up a battle plan and I'll let you know what I come up with," Cooper added and then started to write down some notes as he took a seat in the conference room. Everyone else then left the room and headed back to their desks.

"I really do appreciate your help in this matter," Sharon leaned on the chair opposite from where Lieutenant Cooper was sitting. "Well, Amy asked nicely and I'd do anything to assist you, Commander," Cooper stated and Sharon smiled. She then left him in the conference room and stepped into her office. She glanced at Andy who was now sitting at his desk working on Randall's financials. She did hope that he would find something that could tie him into possible arson.

She didn't like the fact that this so called tip came from Croelick as it seemed to put her two best Lieutenants on edge. When she looked out into the office she saw Assistant Chief Mason walking towards her office door. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He must have received her request for overtime for this case.

He knocked on her office door and she opened it. "Chief, what can I do for you?" she asked him non-chalantly. "I received your request for overtime, I was just wondering what you can tell me about this case you came across," Mason asked her as he sat down across from her desk. "Well," she started to say as she sat down at her desk. "We received an anonymous tip about someone possibly starting a major fire in the Los Angeles area. We have a name to go on and found a match on that name earlier. This person works for the LA County Fire Department as a firefighter so I need surveillance on him to see exactly what he does every day," Sharon continued as Mason sat there listening to her.

"I see, and you think that this anonymous tip is credible?" Mason asked her and she thought about her answer before she spoke. She really didn't think Croelick was a credible person, but she had nothing else to go on. "Yes I do," she stated as she sat back in her chair. "And how much overtime are we talking about here?" Mason asked her. "Well, we need to cover all of our bases, sir," Sharon said. "And in order to do that, we'll need to follow him around," she added.

Mason sat there and contemplated what Sharon had told him. She needed a budget big enough so that they could follow this firefighter around. "How long are you going to follow this person?" he asked her. "Well I'm hoping to catch some sort of evidence against him quickly so that I can make an arrest. As for a possible time frame, I can't give you one, sir," Sharon answered him, feeling confident that he would grant her this.

"I'll give you enough for a week, after that, you will need to seriously re-consider your anonymous tip again," Mason said and then stood up from the chair and exited her office. "Thank you Chief," Sharon said and watched him walk out of her office. She breathed a sigh of relief. She got the money to conduct this operation for a week. Hopefully, they didn't need more than that.

Andy sat at his desk and watched the meeting between Sharon and Assistant Chief Mason. He didn't know why anyone liked the guy. Yes, he was grateful that he finally gave the promotion that Sharon deserved all these years, but other than that, he really didn't care for him. He saw Mason leave and then turned around and paid attention to the financials that he was tasked to go over.

He was hoping for the smoking gun, so to speak, and he thinks he may have found just that. Andy printed what appeared on his computer screen and walked over to the printer to pick up the report. He then placed a quarter in Provenza's jar on his desk and walked over to Sharon's office. He knocked on her door and entered.

"I think we may have found what we were looking for," he informed her as he handed her the financial report. She looked it over and agreed. "Let's have another briefing," she said as she stood up and went into the conference room connected to her office. Andy nodded and gathered everyone else in there.

"Before we get started, I just wanted to inform everyone that Assistant Chief Mason has given us money for overtime for this operation to run for one week," Sharon informed the group and everyone nodded. "That's good news Commander," Cooper said as he was still writing some information on the portable Murder Board that was in the conference room.

"Okay, so Lieutenant Flynn, what do you have on Randall's finances?" Sharon asked Andy as he stepped forward to write on the other half of the board. "Well, it turns out that Randall is in major debt. Divorced, owes child support to his ex-wife, and has a lean on his house, perfect candidate to commit arson for insurance purposes. When the firefighters union conducted a protest a couple of months ago, he was in attendance," Andy explained to everyone.

"How do you know that, sir?" Julio asked Andy. Andy looked over at Buzz. "City Hall was nice enough to give us the surveillance tapes from the protest that occurred there. I found him in the crowd," Buzz stated and then glanced at Andy. "Yeah, well, Randall made some interesting purchases over the past two weeks," Andy continued. "He purchased gasoline containers, boxes of matches, turpentine, and other items. They were not purchased together, he had spread them out as to possibly not draw attention to himself," Andy finished.

Buzz had come to him earlier with the surveillance footage from City Hall. He had paused it on his laptop and brought it over to his desk. Buzz had shown Andy the picture of Randall at the protest, but also of someone else that was there. Andy had asked Buzz not to say anything about seeing Croelick in the crowd and that he would handle that.

"Okay, so Lieutenant Cooper, are you finished with your ops plan?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, Commander. If you could all take a seat, I will go over everything with you now," he informed them and everyone took a seat somewhere in the room. Andy moved over to where Sharon was and leaned into her ear to whisper something to her. "Buzz knows about Croelick. He was on the footage from City Hall," he said and she nodded as she listened to Cooper go over the ops plan.

"We will have a total of five teams within this rotation. One team will be assigned to his house, one to the firehouse, if there's a call out I devised a way that another team can follow them and stay back at a safe distance, and two teams to follow him on his days off," Cooper stated as he went over the plan. "If you are on the team that follows him on his off day, once you guys get a warrant issued to search his house, you will be conducting the search as soon as the subject leaves for work, so hopefully you can get that warrant soon, Commander," Cooper looked at Sharon and she nodded.

"We will start tonight," he said as he looked at his watch. "Randall works the day shift and should be getting out of work around six o'clock, which gives us exactly two hours to prepare," Cooper added. "Now, my men will handle the surveillance from the street. Buzz, I'll need you in the van with the monitors," Cooper informed him and Buzz nodded.

"Mike, Julio, I want you two to follow Randall from the firehouse back to his house," Sharon told them and they both acknowledged. "Amy, I want you in the van with Buzz," Sharon told her and she nodded. "Lieutenants Provenza and Flynn, I want you watching his house. I will concentrate on getting our search warrant," Sharon told them and they nodded. "I'll give you all an hour to get yourselves ready and then meet up back here to start," she added. "Let's get to work people!" she said and then left the room.

Andy followed her back into her office. "Um, Sharon?" he asked her as he walked into her office. "Hmm?" she responded as she looked over the financials one more time. "How is this going to work? I mean, with Matthew?" he asked and waited for her response. "We'll both pick him up now, you drive us home, get yourself ready and head back here, and meanwhile I will call up Judge Grove and see if he'll issue us a search warrant. I can do that from home," Sharon said to him as she gathered some information and placed it in her bag.

"Oh, you're not going to be on the surveillance with us then?" he sounded disappointed. She smiled at him. "I didn't say that," she stated as she moved closer to him. "I will be meeting you guys out there once I get everything settled for Matthew. I was going to call Nicole and see if he could stay the night tonight and maybe tomorrow as well while we conduct this operation," she added as she smoothed his tie down his dress shirt.

"Okay, um one more thing," he stated as he watched her play with his tie. "Are you still mad about earlier, with Provenza barging in here and all?" Andy treaded lightly as he asked that question to her. She sighed and let go of his tie. "I was never mad, a little disappointed maybe, but not mad," she assured him and he nodded. "Okay," he stated and then waited for her to grab her coat.

Once she was ready, they walked out of her office and he grabbed his suit jacket he had left on the back of his chair and they headed out to the elevators. The rest of the team had left when she told them to. "I trust that both you and Provenza can handle this surveillance until I get there tonight?" she said to him as they stepped out of the elevator and into the parking garage. Andy started laughing a little bit. "Yes, this isn't our first surveillance Commander," he stated and grabbed a hold of her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"Oh, I know that Lieutenant, I've heard about you two together on surveillances before," Sharon teased him as they got to their car. Andy smiled as he opened her car door for her. "But that was before I married you," he said as he kissed her on her lips. Sharon hummed her response and then swatted his hand away from her as she got into the car. He closed her car door and then headed to the driver's side and got in. He started the car and drove off to pick up Matthew from his day camp.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Short chapter I know but I needed a transition to get to the next chapter. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 3

"Where's daddy going?" Matthew asked Sharon as he sat at the kitchen table eating the mac and cheese Sharon prepared for him. "He's going on a stake-out tonight, and I'll be joining him later, which means that you are going to spend the night at Nicole and Dean's house," Sharon informed him and Matthew's eyes lit up. "With Moxie?" he asked her. "Uh, no Moxie will be staying here and Rusty will take him out tonight," Sharon stated as she held her cell phone up to her ear. She was currently on hold with Judge Grove's office.

Andy changed his clothes upstairs into a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. He then grabbed his leather jacket from the closet and tossed it onto their bed. He placed his gun and badge on his belt and made sure he had his handcuffs with him before throwing the jacket over his shirt and then headed out the door to go downstairs.

"Dad, what's a stake-out?" Matthew asked Andy when he saw him entering the kitchen. Andy glanced at Sharon who was currently on the phone talking to whom he assumed was Judge Grove. He then looked at Matthew and started to explain to him. "Well, you see when the police try to catch someone in a crime, they often watch them from a car or a van parked outside where they work or live. That's what we're doing tonight," Andy stated as he grabbed a granola bar from the counter.

"Is it dangerous?" Matthew asked him as he finished his mac and cheese. "Not really," Andy shrugged his shoulders and then looked through the bag that Sharon had left him on the counter. Inside the bag were an apple, some pretzels, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a sparkling ice kiwi strawberry flavored water. Also inside the bag was a note that said 'I love you' with a heart and an 'S' underneath it. Andy shook his head as Sharon got off the phone.

"Thank you for the food," Andy said to her as he approached her and kissed her lips. "Hmm, well I know what junk food is eaten on a stake-out and I wanted you to stay a little close to your diet tonight. I'm sure Patrice did the same thing for Provenza as well," she smiled at him and he nodded, returning her smile with his.

"Did you get the warrant?" he asked her as he leaned up against the counter and watched her put away the food. "Yes, Judge Grove issued the warrant and is faxing it over to the office. Since you are meeting up with everyone there first, I thought you could stop in my office, pick it up, and bring it with you," Sharon asked him. "I could do that," Andy agreed and then glanced at the clock in the kitchen. "I got to go. I'll see you later tonight?" Andy stated. "Yes, I'll be there by 8 for sure," Sharon told him. Andy gave her a wink and then kissed Matthew on his head. "Bye, be good for Nicole," he told him and then Sharon walked him over to the back door.

"Bye, be safe," she told him as she gave him a kiss. "Bye," he whispered to her. "I'll see you in a bit," he added and pulled her in for another kiss. Andy then walked out the back door and headed to the garage and got in his car. He then drove back to the office where he was meeting everyone to start this operation.

"So how was day camp today?" Sharon asked Matthew when she came back into the kitchen. "It was fine," he mumbled as he had another helping of mac and cheese. "Oh, what did you guys do today?" she asked him as she sat down after making herself a salad. "We went to the Hollywood Rec Center for the day. We swam in the pool half of the day and the other half we played sports," Matthew continued as he ate his food.

"Oh, well that sounds like a fun day!" Sharon smiled as she ate her salad. "I'm all finished now," Matthew said as he started to get up from the table. "Wait! Bring your dish to the sink and rinse it please," Sharon told him. Matthew paused and then did what Sharon asked him to do. He placed his dish in the sink. "Thank you," she smiled at him and he left to go upstairs. Moxie followed him.

Sharon sat there and thought about what Croelick had told her and Andy. That this guy was worse than him. 'What exactly did that mean?' she thought to herself. She finished eating her salad and then placed her plate in the sink as well. She then went upstairs to change her clothes into something more comfortable for a stake-out. She decided on jeans, a top, and a suede jacket to wear. As she got dressed, Matthew was in his room packing an overnight bag for himself.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Andy arrived and went up to the office where everyone was meeting. He ran into Provenza as he walked inside the Murder Room. Provenza noticed the bag he was carrying. "I see she gave you something to eat tonight," he said as he pointed to the bag Andy was holding. "Yeah, she did," Andy said as he shrugged his shoulders. He then made his way to Sharon's office and opened her door.

"Where are you going?" Provenza asked him. "I'm getting the search warrant. Sharon called Judge Grove's office and he faxed over the warrant for Randall's house. She wanted me to pick it up and bring it with us," Andy explained to him. Everyone else arrived. "You guys all ready?" Cooper asked everyone and they nodded. "Alright, let's do this," Cooper stated and they all headed down to their cars.

Provenza rode with Andy over to Randall's house and they met Cooper and one of his guys over there. Buzz was setting up his things in the surveillance van across the street. It was labeled as a cable van and there was an orange cone outside the vehicle so that it looked like there was work being done. "So, we just sit here and wait for him to come back home," Andy stated as he pulled up to the spot where they needed to park their car.

He glanced at the clock in their vehicle and Randall was due to get off work in fifteen minutes, but who knew how long it was going to take him to get home, or if he stopped somewhere along the way. Provenza pulled out his bag of food that Patrice gave him before he left. He rummaged through it, looking for something edible to eat.

"There's nothing in here that I want to eat!" he cried as he closed the bag. "What did you bring?" he asked Andy and started to grab his bag. "Hey!" Andy yelled at him and swatted his hand away. "Sharon packed that bag for me, not for you!" he told him. "I'm sure there's something in there that Patrice gave you to eat," Andy stated as he pulled out his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "I'll trade you something for that," Provenza asked as he pointed to the sandwich.

"No," Andy said and started to eat it in front of him. "Oh come on Flynn! You like what Patrice packs me for lunch on a regular basis, why can't we trade something here?" Provenza pleaded with him. "Because, Sharon made me this wonderful sandwich and I'm going to savor every bite!" Andy informed him as he took another bite of his sandwich and smiled at Provenza.

"Give me your bag!" Provenza stated and reached out to get Andy's bag. "Hey!" Andy said but this time Provenza was successful on taking it. He rifled through Andy's bag and found the bag of pretzels. "No thank you," he muttered to himself. Then he saw the apple. "Definitely no," he muttered as he moved that out of the way. Next he found the sparkling water and laughed. "You really drink this stuff?" he asked Andy. "What's wrong with that?" Andy stated and watched Provenza put that back in his bag.

"There's nothing else in here, Flynn!" Provenza cried out again and then he found the little note that Sharon had left for Andy. "Ye gods! She left you a love note in here!?" he exclaimed as he read the note. "Hey!" Andy said as he snatched his bag back from Provenza. "Like Patrice doesn't leave you little notes here and there," Andy stated to him as he made sure everything was still in his bag. He shook his head and continued to eat his sandwich.

Provenza just sat there stewing. "You know, it's going to be a long night if you keep pouting like that," Andy pointed out as he finished his sandwich. Provenza just sat there and didn't say a word. "Look, do you want me to text Sharon and ask her to bring you something? She was going to bring another bag of food with her anyway when she comes around 8pm," Andy informed him. "No," he pouted. "You're acting worse than Matthew does when we ask him to put away his things," Andy chuckled as he pulled out his phone.

Julio and Mike ended up following Randall Meijers home from the fire station. There was no stopping in between so they were thankful for that. They drove down the street as Randall pulled his car into his driveway and then Julio nodded to Andy and they turned the corner. Randall got out of his car and headed inside of his house.

"So, I guess we just wait here for what, this guy to do something? How do we know he's even doing something if Buzz and Cooper can't see inside his house?" Andy stated as he looked through binoculars. He was trying to see if he could see anything that was going on in the house. What exactly Randall might be doing and so on.

Randall then turned on the lights to the basement. The windows that were on the lower floor lit up. "Well, it looks like he's going to the basement for something," Provenza stated as he was finishing his crossword puzzle. Andy glanced at Provenza and shook his head. "How can you do that when we are supposed to be watching this guy?" he asked him.

"Simple, since I am the Incident Commander, I've delegated for you to watch the guy while I just sit here," Provenza quirked back as he continued to work on his puzzle. Andy gave him a look and then returned to watching Randall's house. They had an hour before Sharon would be showing up. Hopefully she would be better company than Provenza and he could switch and sit in the van while Sharon sat with him in the car.

Meanwhile, Sharon and Matthew were getting ready to leave. Rusty was in their kitchen making himself a snack. "I'm just going to stay in the house tonight if that's okay with you, Mom," Rusty said as Sharon made her way into the kitchen. "That's fine with me," she answered him and then grabbed the extra bag of food. "Matthew! We're leaving!" she called out to him. A second later she heard his feet running towards the kitchen with his bag. "Okay, bye Rusty, bye Moxie!" Matthew patted the dog on his head and walked out the door. "If there's any problems, just call myself or Andy okay?" Sharon told Rusty and then kissed him on his forehead. "Be safe," he told her and then she left with Matthew.

Matthew got into the backseat of Sharon's car and Sharon walked over to the driver's side and got in. She started the car and then backed out slowly down the driveway. She got to the end of the driveway and stopped to look and see if there were any cars coming. She turned her head to the left and jumped when she saw a man standing there.

"Mom?" Matthew asked quietly since he heard her gasp. "It's okay sweetie," she stated, trying to reassure Matthew as she rolled down her window. "What are you doing here?" she called out to Croelick who stood to the side of her car. She moved her right hand to where her gun was on her right hip just in case she needed it. "I wanted to know if you caught him yet," Croelick stated to her. "We're working on that right now. I suggest you stay off my property otherwise I'll have you arrested for trespassing, and you wouldn't want that Bill, would you?" Sharon told him and he smiled at her.

"You better hurry, Sharon, he's not going to waste any time," Croelick stated, giving her his smirk and then started walking down the block. Sharon's heart was racing as she watched Croelick. "Who was that guy?" Matthew asked her. "Just someone your father and I know," Sharon stated as she continued to back out onto the street and then placed the car in park and drove over to Nicole and Dean's house. She was a little rattled as she drove.

She then placed her phone on speaker as she dialed Rusty's number. "Yes Mom?" he answered her. "Rusty, if you see anything or hear anything that is unusual at the house," Sharon started to say to him but he interrupted her. "Call 911, I got it Mom, this isn't the first time you've left me alone while you and Andy were out working," Rusty stated and reassured Sharon. "Okay, have a good night," she paused before she said that to him and then hung up her phone.

She pulled up to Nicole and Dean's house, still on edge from the earlier encounter with Croelick. She got out of the car and walked Matthew up the driveway to the front door. Nicole was standing there waiting for them and she greeted both before they stepped inside the house. "Thank you for doing this, Nicole," she told her daughter-in-law. "He should have everything that he needs in that bag," she added. "Okay," Nicole smiled and then watched Sharon tell Matthew good night.

"I'll let you know what happens tomorrow, but if you could pick him up as well," Sharon added as she walked outside the house. "Not a problem, have a good night, and be careful," Nicole told Sharon and then closed the door as Sharon walked back to her car.

Sharon sat in her car and pulled out her phone. She texted Andy that she was on her way over to meet him and the rest of the team. She took a deep breath and debated whether or not to tell him about her encounter with Croelick as she was leaving the house earlier. On one hand, if she told him, that might just infuriate him even more, but on the other hand, if she didn't tell him, it could backfire on her if he found out somehow. She placed the phone back in the cup holder and started to drive to the team.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 4

Sharon arrived on the scene of the stake-out and parked her car on the street one over from Randall's house on Somerset Drive. She pulled out her phone and texted Andy that she had arrived but was stopping at the van for some information. She stepped out of the car and walked down the street towards the surveillance van. She made sure no one was watching as she stepped inside. "Evening Buzz," she said as she stepped inside the van. "Commander," Buzz stated and she sat down next to him.

"It looks like he is in the basement of the house doing something," Buzz informed her. "Yeah, he's been down there for at least an hour," Cooper added as he glanced at his watch. "I have Julio and Mike on the back side of the house, one block away in case he makes a run for it," Cooper added and Sharon nodded. "Do you think he will?" Sharon asked him. "No, but better to have all the bases covered, Commander," Cooper smiled.

She turned around in the makeshift chair she was sitting in and stood up, hunched over due to the low ceiling in the van. "I'll be with the Lieutenants for a bit, if anything happens, please let me know," it was more of a request than an order she gave Buzz and he nodded. "Will do, Commander," he answered and looked at the TV monitors.

When they had arrived to set up the surveillance, Buzz had installed two cameras on the light pole in front of Randall's house; they were small and unnoticeable but provided Buzz with a great view of the house, the surrounding area, and a little bit of the windows.

Sharon stepped out of the van and casually walked over to where Andy and Provenza were sitting in Andy's car. Andy smiled to himself when he saw Sharon was carrying a small bag and unlocked the doors to the car. Sharon slipped in the back seat and closed the door. "Gentlemen, how's your evening?" she asked as she leaned towards the front seats.

"Fine," mumbled Andy as he turned around in his seat to look at her. She gave him a smile and that seemed to make his world a little better at the moment. She glanced at Provenza who was still working on his crossword puzzle. "Lieutenant Provenza, is this what you do when I send you out on a surveillance mission?" she asked him and he immediately dropped his crossword puzzle book into his lap. "Sorry Commander," Provenza started to apologize.

"I heard you were hungry, Lieutenant. Seems like Patrice forgot to pack a meal for you?" Sharon opened the bag she had brought with her and pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She handed it to Provenza and he was grateful. "Oh, thank you Commander. Flynn wouldn't share his sandwich with me earlier," he grumbled as he took the sandwich and pulled it out of the Ziploc bag.

"Yes, I heard about that and how you didn't like what Patrice had sent with you," Sharon amused herself. "Well, it's not that I didn't like it, it's just," Provenza started to explain to her. "Too healthy?" Andy chuckled as he finished his sentence for him. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, I think we have a bigger problem on our hands besides your healthy food you refuse to eat," Sharon told him as she looked out the back seat window towards Randall's house.

"About that, Commander," Provenza chewed his sandwich. "How long do you want us to keep an eye on this guy?" he asked her as he continued to eat. "Once he leaves tomorrow morning for work, we are going to search his house and look for the evidence that would suggest starting a fire," Sharon explained. "When he's not there?" Provenza asked as he turned in his seat to look at her. "I don't want to spook him just yet. Besides, watching him isn't going to take long. If he's already planning something," Sharon started. "It's just a matter of him carrying it out," Andy finished for her.

Hours passed and they were still watching his house. The lights in the basement turned off a while ago and there were still a couple of lights still on the first floor of the house. "I think he's gone to bed," Andy said to Sharon as it was just the two of them currently awake. He handed the binoculars back to Sharon and she took a look herself but she didn't see anything.

"How was Matthew when you dropped him off at Nicole's house?" Andy asked Sharon as he tried to get more comfortable in the driver's seat. "He was fine. Eager to spend the night there," she told him as she placed the binoculars on the seat next to her. "You know, you could take a nap Sharon, it's okay. I'll stay awake for a while and then I'll wake up Mister Hungry over here," Andy stated as he pointed to Provenza.

Sharon smiled at his comment. "I'm fine, Andy, really," she said quietly. Seeing Croelick by their house tonight as she was leaving with Matthew still bothered her. She didn't know if it was a fact that he knew where they lived or his stoic approach as he stood there on the sidewalk. Whichever it was, it scared Sharon a lot. The fact that she didn't tell Andy about it was also bothering her. She was keeping too many secrets from her team and now from Andy.

"I have to tell you something," she whispered but loud enough that Andy heard her. "What is it?" he said as he looked at her sitting in the back seat. She looked at his face and she knew she had to tell him about Croelick's appearance this evening. She paused for a minute but then chickened out. "I told Rusty if he encounters any problems to call one of us, or if there's an emergency to call 911," she said and as she said it she knew it sounded stupid.

Andy gave her a quizzical look and wondered why Sharon would tell him that information. "Okay," he slowly said to her. She felt horrible and closed her eyes as Andy turned in his seat to face the front of the car. Something was bothering her and he could tell. He just hoped that she would have enough courage to tell him. 'Maybe because Provenza was in the car, that's why she didn't want to say what she wanted to say,' he thought to himself.

Dawn was breaking as Sharon shifted in the back seat of the car. She slowly opened her eyes and wondered about the dream she had. She reached over to grab Andy and realized she was in the back seat of their car. She then rubbed the back of her neck as she sat more upright. She heard Provenza and Andy talking. "What time is it?" she asked them. "6:30," Andy mumbled as he shifted his seat.

Sharon rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. All three of them received a text message stating that there was fresh coffee and doughnuts in the van, courtesy of SIS. "Andy, do you still have the search warrant?" she asked him as she tried to quickly fix her hair. "Yeah, it's right here," he said as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the paper. He handed it to her and she quickly read it over.

"Lieutenants, let's wait until he leaves before we head to the van for refreshments," she stated as Provenza was about to step out of the car. "Hey, we got movement," they all heard over the radios and watched Randall pull out of his driveway and headed east down the street. They then saw a SIS car follow him, followed by Mike and Julio in their car. "Lieutenant Tao, let me know your progress," Sharon said over the radio. "Will do, Commander," Mike responded.

"Okay, let's meet in the van and conduct our search of his home," Sharon stated to Provenza and Andy and all three of them exited the car. The van door opened as they approached it and Buzz handed Sharon a cup of coffee. "Here you go Commander," she heard him say as she took the cup in her hands. "Thank you," she responded as she took a sip. "There's decaf sir, don't worry," Buzz informed Andy as he looked a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to participate in the fresh coffee. He then handed Andy a cup of decaf coffee and Andy appreciated it.

"Alright, Lieutenant Cooper, I'll need you to let us in the back door of Randall's house. If he spent some time in the basement, like you guys said he did, then we should concentrate on that area, however, I don't want to rule anything out just yet," she briefed everyone and then minutes later, they were all headed towards the house.

They walked around the house to the back door and Cooper pulled out his lock pick kit. He stuck the pieces of the tool inside the lock of the door and two seconds later, they were walking inside the house. "Remember, once we find the evidence linking him, then we can make an arrest," Sharon reminded everyone as they searched the house. They all nodded and placed gloves on their hands before they touched anything inside.

Andy went down the basement and turned the light switch on. What he saw was a room with a map of LA County on the wall. He walked over and glanced at the map, but there were no markings to indicate if Randall was going to hit something. He then walked further in the room and saw typical basement items: washer, dryer, work bench. He searched the work bench area for anything that Randall had purchased recently.

Meanwhile, Amy, Cooper, and Provenza were on the main floor of the house and they didn't find anything unusual. Buzz was recording everything. Sharon was searching the kitchen when Provenza joined her. "Commander, there's nothing here that would suggest a fire starter," he told her. She stood there with her arms crossed. "Maybe Andy is having better luck?" she started to make her way to the basement when her phone alerted her to a message. It was from Julio and she read it. "They are at the fire station now," she stated as she started to walk down the stairs.

Andy heard Sharon walking down the stairs to join him in the basement. "Anything?" she asked him and he shook his head 'no'. "There's a map of LA County on the wall, but nothing's marked that I can tell," he informed her as they both stood there. "Maybe Provenza is right. Croelick is playing with us," he added. She sighed and walked over to the map.

As she stared at the map, she thought she saw a faint yellowish circle around Griffith Park. "Andy, look for a black light somewhere here," she turned and pointed to the area of a shelving unit. Andy walked over and began looking for a black light in the boxes on the shelves. "Here," he handed one to her that he found in a box. "Turn the lights off," she asked and he did. Sharon turned the black light on and waved it in front of the map. A circle around Griffith Park lit up underneath the light.

"He's going to hit Griffith Park," Andy stated and looked at Sharon. "Buzz!" she called out and heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Commander?" Buzz asked. "Over here, I want you to film this," she said as Andy turned his flashlight on and Buzz was able to see the way. She then shone the black light against the map again and Buzz filmed it.

Sharon turned the light off and Andy walked over to the light switch on the wall and turned the lights back on in the basement. "There's no other evidence here?" she asked him as she walked around. "No, nothing, no gas cans, nothing that he purchased," Andy sighed as he was frustrated with this case already.

"They didn't find anything upstairs either," she made her way to the stairs to head up. "Let's search the garage," she suggested as Andy followed her up the stairs. "Anything?" Provenza asked them as they joined him in the kitchen. "There's a map of LA County with Griffith Park circled on it, but nothing else. No other evidence," Andy rubbed his head.

"I want to search the garage, and then we're done here," Sharon stated as she walked out of the house. Andy glanced at Provenza and then followed Sharon towards the garage that was not attached to the house.

Buzz, Amy, and Cooper met them outside by the garage after Cooper had locked the back door once again. He walked over to Sharon and glanced at her before he placed his tools into the lock on the garage door. He opened it slowly and turned the light switch on inside. The garage was filled with boxes and boxes of items. Cooper walked in followed by everyone else. Buzz filmed the garage and all of the contents. "What are all these boxes filled with?" Provenza asked as Andy sorted through one.

"Looks like mementos," he said as he held up children's clothing and toys. Provenza rolled his eyes as he walked around the garage. "Oh come on Provenza, like you never kept anything from your previous marriages?" Andy shouted to him. "Oh, I have things, they're just not in multiple boxes like this guy," he responded as he looked around. "Remember what we are looking for," Sharon reminded everyone as they searched the garage. "There's nothing here, except old memories, Commander," Provenza stated as he looked back at Sharon.

Sharon stood there thinking about their next move. "Okay, everyone head back to the office, but I still want Mike, Julio, and the rest of SIS to stay on our guy, for now," she stated and everyone nodded as she walked outside. Provenza walked over to where Andy was standing. "Playing you two," he reminded him of what he said earlier about Croelick and then walked outside to join Sharon. Andy watched him and sighed as he placed everything back in the box. Maybe he was right.

Cooper locked the garage and met everyone at the front of the house. "Commander, I'll leave one car of my guys here, just in case," Cooper told Sharon and she nodded. She then watched Andy and Provenza walk towards her on the other side of the street. "I don't want to hear anything from you two," Sharon started and Provenza was shocked as he glanced at Andy. "We know he's targeting Griffith Park, we just don't know when," she added.

"You still think that this is our guy?" Provenza asked her as they stood there by the car. "Yes Lieutenant I do," she replied and Provenza wasn't going to argue with her. "I'll see you back at the office then," she told Andy and he nodded. He watched her walk away from them and get into her car, which was still parked around the corner. "Flynn!" he heard Provenza call him and he turned around to get into the car. They drove back to the PAB wondering how this case was going to pan out.

When they arrived in the parking garage, Andy waited until he saw Sharon pull into her spot. He walked over to her and held her door open. She smiled as she stepped out and he closed her door. They walked together and joined Provenza, Amy, and Buzz who were waiting at the elevator. They all rode up in silence and when the elevator opened at the ninth floor, they all stepped off.

"I'm going to put these doughnuts in the breakroom," Amy said as she started walking down to the hallway. Sharon, Andy, and Provenza started to walk towards the office while Buzz went the other way towards the RACR room. Andy held the door open for Sharon and Provenza and all three of them walked in. Provenza went towards his desk and didn't notice another person in the room.

"Well, you guys certainly look weary and tired. Long night?" Croelick stated as he sat at Andy's desk. Provenza was startled to see Croelick there. Sharon held her breath as Andy looked up and saw him sitting there. He immediately jogged over to him and grabbed him by his collar. "You son of a bitch!" Andy gritted his teeth as he stood him up and began to pat him down. "Andy!" Sharon shouted at him but he didn't care at this point. Andy reached into the jacket pocket of Croelick and pulled out a piece of paper.

"What's this?" he asked him as he held it in front of him. Sharon and Provenza walked over to where Andy was holding Croelick. Andy handed the paper to Provenza and he took a look at it. Listed on the paper was two street names. "What the hell is this?" Provenza asked Croelick. "The location of where Randall keeps his supplies," Croelick smiled.

Andy immediately grabbed Croelick and led him to an interview room with Provenza and Sharon following them. Buzz walked in and saw them leading Croelick to the interview room. He immediately went into electronics and texted Amy to join him in there. He turned on the monitors and saw Andy shove Croelick down into one of the chairs in the room. "Sit!" Andy told Croelick and then he watched him closely as Sharon and Provenza sat down across from Croelick.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 5

"My, my Sharon, and I thought we shared something last night," Croelick said as fixed his visitor's badge while he stared at her across from the table. He knew that would put Andy over the edge. Andy looked at him and then at Sharon. "What the hell is he talking about?" Andy muttered as he looked at Sharon. "Oh, wait, you didn't tell him about our little encounter?" Croelick stated as he looked at them and shook his head. Sharon stared at Croelick and then gave a side glance to Andy.

Provenza saw this was only going to end with Andy flying off the handle and he decided to step in and interrupt whatever game Croelick was playing with his best friend and his Commander. "Enough of this, Croelick!" Provenza stated and that got the attention of everyone in the room. Andy stretched his neck and he stood there, staring down at Croelick as Provenza spoke. "Now, you need to answer our questions, and I mean right now!" Provenza pointed to him and Croelick smiled.

"Okay Lieutenant, what would you like to know?" Croelick said in a southern accent. "I'd like for you to share how you know Randall Meijers," Provenza asked him with Sharon and Andy still watching Croelick. Croelick smiled. "Well, I'd like to tell you but first I'd like you to call off the brute squad here," Croelick pointed to Andy and Andy shook his head. Andy glanced at Provenza and saw him gesture with his head for him to back away. Andy's shoulders then slumped down and he took a few steps back from Croelick.

"I ran into him a couple of times, different places. I overheard him talking to another guy about fire and of course, that piqued my interest," Croelick started to say as he glanced at Andy who was now standing against the side wall. "Yeah, I bet," muttered Andy as he stood there. "Anyway, I joined his conversation he was having and we swapped fire stories. He started talking about how he was going to plan revenge, something about paying due for everything that happened to him, and it was going to be a big blaze, like nothing anyone has seen before," he continued.

Provenza glanced at Sharon as Croelick spoke. "He's going to set a fire at Griffith Park," she said as she leaned forward and placed her hands on the table. "Oh, is that where this blaze is going to be?" Croelick acted surprised but Andy wasn't buying his act. "You already knew that, didn't you?" Andy leaned his arms on the table and got in Croelick's face. Andy stared at his eyes and they were shifty. "I don't know what you're talking about Lieutenant," Croelick replied as he stared back Andy.

"I sure am having fun at this reunion with all three of you, but if you want to know more, I just want to talk to Sharon," Croelick sneered and looked at them. "Not gonna happen pal," Andy blocked Croelick's view of Sharon this time by leaning on the table. "Do you want to know where Randall keeps his supplies or not?" Croelick snapped back. "Oh and how do you know this?" Provenza asked him. "When you're drunk, you tend to tell things to people who are willing to listen," he answered back.

"Okay, Bill, let's cut through all of this crap here. You seem willing to cooperate with us because you were the one who brought this to my and Andy's attention. So, where does Randall keep his supplies?" Sharon stated. Croelick smiled at Sharon. "Like I said before, that piece of paper tells you the location," he pointed to the paper that was on the table. Provenza picked it up and read it. "Odin Street and Highland Avenue?" Provenza said out loud to them.

"Now, I think I had enough of your police brutality for one day," Croelick started to get up from his seat but Andy pushed him back down on the chair. "You're not going anywhere," Andy gritted his teeth. "You can't hold me," Croelick laughed. "Oh yes, we can. I found you trespassing on private property last night, so I can hold you for at least 24 hours until we can sort through this mess," Sharon informed him as she stood up. "Really? You turn on me just like that, after the information I provided you?" Croelick stared at Sharon.

Sharon started to walk out of the room. "I'll sue the city and the department again if you hold me against my will!" Croelick yelled. Sharon turned around. "Speaking of suing and settlements, I thought you made a deal with then Deputy Chief Johnson that you were going to stay out of LA?" she asked him. "I did, but then you guys brought me back in last year with that whole situation with Cora and Missy," Croelick stated. "That's right, we did do that. I'll add damage to a public vehicle as well, that will allow us to hold you another 24 hours until with get this sorted," Sharon fired back and left the room.

"Andy, Andy, you got yourself a little firecracker there," Croelick muttered to him. "I'd love to see what she's like," he added which threw Andy over the edge. Andy kicked Croelick's chair out from under him and Croelick became off-balance. He then picked Croelick up by the collar of his jacket and pushed him against the wall. "Flynn! That's enough!" Provenza yelled at Andy. Croelick smiled at Andy as he held him against the wall. "Next time you come across Sharon or any member of my family, you better pray I'm not there," Andy slowly let go of his hold on Croelick and walked out of the room. Croelick again adjusted his visitor's pass on his shirt and sat back down on the chair.

Provenza followed Andy out of the room as two patrol officers watched Croelick. "Flynn! Are you insane?" he asked him. "What?" Andy turned around to face his friend. "You can't be assaulting him like that. Do you know what she will do to you?" Provenza asked him as he glanced over at Sharon in her office. "Next time I'll make sure it's self-defense," Andy stated and then walked into Sharon's office. That left Provenza shaking his head as he watched Andy walk away.

"We need to talk," Andy said as he walked into Sharon's office. He made sure he closed the door behind him. "I know," she started to say as he sat down. "Why didn't you tell me that Croelick was at the house last night?" he asked her. "He wasn't at the house, he was standing on the sidewalk as I pulled out of the driveway," she corrected him. Leave it to her to get technical on him. "And I was going to tell you, but I thought you would get upset and go after him or worse," she added. "So, this is better? To hear about it from Croelick?" Andy stated, his voice louder than normal.

"He's playing us, Andy. He's pinning us against each other because he knows what makes you tick and get under your skin," Sharon told him as she watched her husband sit across from her. "Now, the reason I want to hold him for 24 hours is to get him off the street. For all we know, he could be working with this Randall guy. Why else would he know all these things about him?" Sharon continued as Andy listened to her.

"Do you really think that? That he could be working with this guy?" Andy asked her as he shifted in his chair. Sharon looked out her window. "It's possible, maybe," she answered him as she continued to look at the outside. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have and I wanted to," she said in a low voice. Andy sat back in his chair. "But you didn't," he mumbled and she shook her head. "Don't you trust me?" he asked her and she quickly turned around to face him.

"How can you ask me that? Of course I do!" her voice hitched. "But not enough to deal with Croelick?" he muttered. "Look at what happened the minute you saw him today?" she pointed out to him. "I didn't hurt the bastard," he looked into Sharon's eyes. She looked at him and saw the hurt on his face. "Do you know what he did to his girlfriend?" he asked her as he pointed to the door and Croelick's location. "I read the report," she said.

"He lit her insides on fire, Sharon, and enjoyed watching it. Do you know what it's like to find someone burned to death like that?" he asked her as he voice cracked. She didn't answer him. He closed his eyes and bent his head. "I won't let that happen to you," he whispered but Sharon still heard him. "It's not going to," she wanted to reach out to him. "He's fixated on you, Sharon," he spoke louder. "And he knows that's how to get to me," he added as she sat there listening to him.

Sharon thought about what Andy said as she watched him, sitting there across from her. Coming up with no concrete evidence during the stakeout last night and this morning was putting a toll on not only the team, but on Andy as well. The man sitting in front of her would do anything to protect her and their family. She knew that and he did do just that, countless of times since she's known him.

Sharon stood up and walked over to the side door in her office. Andy watched her the whole time. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening the door. Andy stood up and followed her out. She walked over to the patrol officers by the interview room where Croelick was still located. She nodded to one of them and they opened the door.

Croelick watched Sharon as she stood there at the door frame. "Officers, please take Mister Croelick down to holding, where he will be held on trespassing charges for now while we look into something else," she informed them. The two officers went over to escort Croelick as he stood up. Croelick then walked to where Sharon was standing. "After all of the things we've been through, this is the thanks I get?" he glared at her.

Andy stood in the hallway and witnessed the exchange with Croelick. "I'll never forget this Sharon," Croelick told her as the two officers led him out of the room and down the hallway. Croelick smiled as he passed Andy and continued to walk with the officers out of the room. He wanted to really lay into Croelick and beat him, but he knew that he had crossed that line earlier, Provenza had reminded him of that. Andy shook his head and then focused on Sharon as she still stood there in the same spot. He was about to say something to her when she turned around and walked towards him.

"Let's continue on this case," Sharon said as she walked past Andy and back into the Murder Room where Provenza and Amy were standing. Andy joined them and stood next to Sharon. "Okay, Lieutenant, did we figure out what is at the location of the two streets Croelick gave us?" she asked him as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Well, Commander, these two streets are located by the Hollywood Bowl. Now, we can set up a search at the Hollywood Bowl to look for these so-called supplies, but I have a feeling they won't be there," Provenza said as he leaned back in his chair. "I tend to agree with you at this point," Sharon stood there thinking. "We need a city street map of the area," she added and Amy nodded. "I can get that for you right away," she left her desk and headed out of the office.

"Do you still want to keep a tail on Randall?" Provenza asked Sharon as she looked at the Murder Board. "Yes, I want Julio and Mike to stay on him. And I want the rest of us to check out this latest clue from Croelick," she said as Amy came back into the room. She placed the map on the board and circled the area of the supposed location. "Odin and Highland intersect right here," Amy pointed to the location on the map. "That's south of the Hollywood Bowl parking lot," Sharon said as she looked at the map. "I'd like to take a ride and see what is there," she added as she turned and everyone nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, across from the fire station where Randall works, Julio and Mike were sitting in their car. "So how is Mark doing after adjusting back to living with you and your mother?" Mike asked as they watched the station. "He's doing much better. He'll be going back to school next week and seems to be interested in going there," Julio smiled as he thought about how far he has come with Mark. Just then, the fire station opened its doors and an ambulance and two fire trucks start driving out with their lights and sirens.

Julio picked up the radio and called the other two SIS cars on surveillance with them. "Hey, we got movement," he said as he watched the trucks leave the station. "We got them," they heard over the radio. Mike pulled out his phone and called the dispatch center. "Yes, this is Lieutenant Tao, LAPD Major Crimes division, can you tell me where fire station 22 is heading towards on a call?" he asked the dispatcher.

Julio handed Mike a piece of paper and a pen and he jotted down the address of the fire call. "1142 Long Beach Boulevard, Mackenzie's Marketplace. Thank you," Mike said and then hung up his phone. Julio then relayed the information over the radio to the SIS cars and they drove towards the destination. "The dispatcher said it was a call stating smoke coming from the employees break room at the market," Mike told Julio as he drove.

Julio then pulled out his phone and dialed Provenza's number. Provenza was walking in the parking garage with Amy, Sharon, Andy, and Buzz when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Julio who was calling him. "Yes, Julio," he said as he answered. "His company got a call, we are currently following along with SIS to 1142 Long Beach Boulevard, sir," Julio said as Mike continued to drive them. "Okay, Julio, keep us informed and be careful," Provenza said and then he hung up his phone.

"That was Julio, he said Randall's company got a call and they are following them to the location of the call," Provenza informed Sharon and the rest of the team as they made their way to the cars. Sharon took a deep breath. "Okay, let's see what we can find at this location," she said as Andy held her door open and she got in the car. Andy then stepped around the car and caught Provenza's eye as he did so. He looked at Provenza and then got in the car himself. Provenza did the same with the car Amy had and Buzz got in their back seat. They drove towards the location that Croelick gave them.

Andy glanced at Sharon a couple of times as they got onto the streets of downtown. They were going to take the 101 north towards Hollywood and were waiting at the light to turn onto the freeway. Andy glanced at Sharon one more time. She was looking out her window and didn't say a word since they left the parking garage. "Is everything okay?" he asked her as he turned onto the ramp to get on the freeway. "Yeah," she said quietly and continued to look out the front window now. "Are you worried about what Croelick said to you?" he asked her.

She turned her head and watched him as he drove. She didn't think he had heard what Croelick had said to her before patrol escorted him out of the room. Andy gave her a side glance as he continued to drive on the 101 towards Hollywood. Her silence spoke volumes to Andy and knew that later on, when they were alone, he would ask her again.

They got off at the exit and followed the road to the intersection of where Croelick told them to go to. "This is part of a park," she stated as she pointed out the window. "Yeah, the Hollywood Bowl is behind us and this must be the remote parking area, I think," Andy stated as he pulled off on a side road along with Amy, who was driving the other car. Sharon stepped out of their car and Andy placed his sunglasses on as he stepped out on his side. They met in the back of their car and waited for the others to join them.

Sharon looked around at their surroundings and then focused on the team. "Let's canvass the area over here," she pointed to the smaller wooded area and they did just that. Sharon walked up the walkway that went towards a make shift parking area. Andy and Provenza closely followed her as Buzz and Amy went to the left of them.

There was an older homeless man sitting underneath a tree and Sharon stopped to take a look. Andy moved up to her side. "That man sure has a lot of items surrounding him," Sharon stated and Andy looked himself. "He sure does," he replied as he nodded to Provenza and the two of them approached the homeless man.

"Excuse me!" Provenza stated to the homeless man but he ignored him and started to move his things together. Provenza glanced at Andy and he shrugged his shoulders. Andy then attempted to make contact with the man. "Hey," he moved closer to the man sitting on the ground. The homeless man looked at Andy. "Hi, I'm Andy. What's your name?" he continued to approach the man. The man then moved some of his items closer to him before he answered.

"John," replied the homeless man. "Nice to meet you," Andy said and then he showed him his LAPD badge. "I'm a detective and my friends and I were wondering if you could help us?" he continued to speak to John. Sharon witnessed the exchange as Andy seemed to be getting through to this older man sitting there. Andy knelt down to the ground so he could be eye level with John. "Do you think you could help us?" Andy asked him as he looked around at the different items that were with John.

Buzz started to film the exchange as well when he and Amy joined them. Provenza was on one side of the area where John was sitting while Andy was still kneeling down. "Could you tell us where you got all of these items?" Andy asked him as he pointed to the gas containers and other items they were looking for at Randall's house. John didn't answer him. "Come on John, you won't get in trouble if you tell us. I promise you," Andy assured him.

John hesitated for another second but then spoke. "A man asked me if I could watch these items for him and he paid me twenty bucks," he said. "What did this man look like?" Andy asked as he glanced up at Sharon and Provenza. "Big guy, dark hair, white," John started to describe who he saw to Andy. Andy turned around as Sharon walked closer to him and handed a picture of Randall to Andy. "Was this the guy John?" he asked him as he showed the picture to John. John looked at the picture and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's him!" he pointed at the picture. "Please don't take my money away from me!" John pleaded with Andy. "I'm not going to take your money away, John," Andy said as he stood up from the ground and looked over where Sharon was standing.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews! I was hoping I would be finished with this story by the time the new season premiers on Halloween but it doesn't look like I will be. Croelick likes to linger around and I guess he doesn't want this story to end just yet! Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6

Julio and Mike arrived at the scene of the fire and parked two blocks away from it. They had a perfect view of the fire truck that Randall was on as they watched the firefighters work on the blaze of the marketplace building. "How long do you think we are going to keep doing this?" Julio asked Mike as they sat there and watched. "Until we gather enough evidence against this Randall guy to arrest him for arson or starting fires, whichever it may be," Mike stated as he looked through the binoculars at the fire.

"Where do you think this anonymous tip came from?" Julio asked a minute later. Mike placed the binoculars on top of the dash board and thought about the question. "Well, it could have been a family member of Randall's, maybe his ex-wife knows something and she called it in?" Mike wondered. "Yeah, but if that was the case, don't you think Provenza would have suggested that in the beginning? He's always saying it's the ex on everything!" Julio stated as he tried to keep a straight face but failed after a few seconds and started to laugh.

Mike looked out the window and thought about what Julio had just said. "Maybe you're right about that Julio. And, why didn't the Commander suggest looking into other leads?" Mike stated as he glanced at Julio. "Do you think they know who this anonymous tip is?" Julio asked and Mike just looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. "It's possible," he said and then paused for a couple of seconds. "It may be someone we dealt with from a past case that they don't want us to consider for this case?" he added as they watched the fire being extinguished.

"You think it's Croelick?" Julio asked him but Mike didn't want to say for sure what he thought. "Ah, I think we need to remain objective in this. We have this tip and lead, we should follow it and see where it leads us," Mike answered. "If it is Croelick, I'm sure Lieutenant Flynn will be in his face if he shows up," Julio scratched his face. "Well, he did show up last year, and I don't think he ever left LA after that encounter," Mike stated as they watched the firefighters start to load the hoses back onto one of the trucks. They continued to sit there and watch the scene.

Meanwhile, back in Hollywood, Andy was still trying to get information from John, the homeless man they had discovered in the park area. There were cars honking their horns on Highland Avenue which distracted John for a second as Andy spoke to him. "Hey John, why don't you come with me. I can get you a decent meal, and we can discuss what this man asked you to do," Andy suggested to him as he sat on the ground. "Uh, I can't do that. I need to stay here and watch these items. He's not going to be happy if he shows up and I'm not here," John repeated.

"Okay, okay," Andy said as he held his hands up to John in an effort to calm him down. Provenza was speaking with Sharon as Andy glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to be right back, okay John?" Andy asked and John nodded his head as he watched Andy stand up and walk away. John then looked around the area but focused back on what Andy was doing.

"So Father Flynn, is your new friend going to help us?" Provenza quipped as Andy joined Sharon and him. Sharon glared at Provenza as soon as he said that comment and Provenza felt it. "Sorry," he muttered and then listened to what Andy told them. "He doesn't want to leave, says he has to stay until Randall comes back for his stuff, otherwise Randall's not going to be happy," Andy informed them and Sharon sighed.

"I offered to take him for a decent meal but he didn't want to go," Andy added as he turned around and watched John from where they were standing. "Lieutenant, how do you feel about a sting operation?" Sharon glanced at Provenza. "What are you suggesting Commander?" Provenza asked her. "Well, John here confirmed that Randall will be coming back. We need to find out if that is tonight after he gets off of work. I need you to ask him that Andy," she said and Andy nodded his head. "Okay," Andy walked away and headed back to where John was sitting.

"John, could you tell me when the guy is coming back to pick up his things?" Andy asked him as he knelt down again. John looked up at Andy. "I'm not going to be in trouble if I tell you, right?" he asked as he sat there. "No, no of course not. In fact, since you are helping us with this information, we can help you. Get you off the streets and into a shelter if you want," Andy reassured him. John looked at him for a couple of seconds. "He said he is coming back tonight to get his things," John finally told him. "Good," Andy nodded his head and then stood up again and walked over to Sharon and Provenza.

"Randall's going to be here tonight," Andy told them and Sharon nodded her head as she moved the group further away from ear shot of John. "We keep Mike and Julio on Randall still. We know he will be coming here tonight after he gets out of work. We set up surveillance in the area, surrounding this park, and when Randall shows up, and takes possession of his items, we follow him out and see where he goes," Sharon stated to her two Lieutenants. Provenza looked at her and knew there was something she was not saying to him or Andy.

"Wait a minute, I thought you said you wanted to conduct a sting operation?" Provenza asked. "Yes I did say that Lieutenant," Sharon smiled. "So you want someone here with John when Randall comes back tonight," Provenza looked at Sharon. "Yes and I thought you would be perfect for the role," Sharon suggested and Andy choked on his laughter. "I was going to suggest Andy since he built up a rapport with our homeless friend," Provenza glared at Andy.

"I think you would do much better and plus, Lieutenant Flynn will be backing you up out here anyway," she added and Andy ended his laughter. "Both of you can easily blend in and look like homeless people," Sharon told them and then she walked over to where Amy was standing and informed her of what was going to occur. "I can call Cooper and let him know, Commander," she said. "Please do, thank you Detective," Sharon said as she turned around to see Provenza swatting Andy's arm.

"I don't know if I should take that as an insult or not?" Andy huffed as he watched Sharon walk away from them. "I told you that you pissed her off earlier today when you grabbed Croelick and shoved him into the room!" Provenza swatted at Andy's arm again. "Ow! Would you stop that!" Andy gave him a questioning look. Sharon walked over to them. "Gentlemen, may I suggest you get yourselves ready for this operation and also, Andy, if you could help me relay the message to John about what we are going to do?" Sharon asked and then the two of them walked to where John was sitting.

"John, I want to introduce you to my friend here. Her name is Sharon and she's also a police officer," Andy gestured to Sharon as he spoke. Sharon knelt down to join Andy and John. "Hi John," Sharon said softly to him. "Hello," John said to her. "Andy told me that the man who asked you to watch these items for him is coming back tonight to pick them up, is that correct?" she asked him. "Yes," John nodded slightly. "He paid me to watch these for him," he added. "I heard, and that's okay, John, it is," Sharon said and then glanced at Andy.

"John, we want to be here when the guy comes back tonight because we believe he's going to do something bad with these items here," Andy explained to John the best way he could. "What is he going to do?" John asked him as he looked between Andy and Sharon. Sharon shook her head slightly as Andy looked at her. "Just some bad things, John. But we will be here to stop him from doing that," Andy informed him.

A few minutes later, a patrol car pulled up to the area where they were located. "Patrol is going to stay here with John while we get ourselves set up for tonight," Sharon informed them. "Cooper is sending some bodies for us as well, and he said he can make the Lieutenants look like homeless people if you want Commander," Amy added and Sharon acknowledged. "I'll call Mike and let him know what's happening," Provenza said as he walked away from the crowd.

Andy walked back over to where John was still sitting. "Hey John, I have to go set up a couple of things but I'll be back in a couple of hours, okay?" Andy informed him. "I need you to stay right here, with these nice officers, alright?" he asked John. "You'll be back?" John asked him. "Yes I promise," Andy said and then joined Sharon who was standing at the cars while Provenza spoke on the phone to Mike.

"Is he okay?" Sharon asked Andy as he approached her. "I think so. I just hope this works," Andy told her as he looked back at John. "We're going to have to catch him in the act of committing the crime," she told him and he understood. He turned around and looked at the hills surrounding them. This area backed into Griffith Park and he knew that if Randall set a spark of any flame, it was going to light up the whole entire area where they were.

"Buzz, I want Lieutenant Provenza and Flynn to be set up with body cameras when they are ready," Sharon told him. "Yes ma'am," he answered her as they all stepped into their cars and drove back to the office. "We can get the fire department on standby for tonight, in case he does set the fire it can be extinguished quickly," Sharon said as Andy drove them. Andy got off at the Los Feliz exit. Sharon gave him a look as to why they were getting off here.

"I'm going to stop by the house, pick up some clothes for tonight," he calmed her questionable look as he drove down the street and then turned down another street to get to their house. "I'll wait in the car," she told him as he pulled into their driveway. Andy parked the car and went inside the house.

Moxie greeted him there at the back door as he made his way inside. "Hey buddy," he said to the dog as Moxie wagged his tail. Andy then headed upstairs to their bedroom to pick up some clothes. Moxie followed him upstairs and into the bedroom. Andy walked into the closet and looked for something that was a little raggy. "Where are my painting jeans?" he asked no one in particular as he went through his clothes. He found them in the back of the closet and pulled them out. He then found an old, beat up shirt and another shirt he could throw over his vest. He then headed back downstairs. "Come on Moxie!" he called out to the dog and Moxie followed him.

Meanwhile, Sharon was in the car waiting for Andy and her phone rang. She pulled out her phone from her purse and saw that it was Mike calling her. "Yes Lieutenant," she answered. "Commander, I just wanted to let you know that the fire has been put out and Randall's company is heading back to the station," Mike informed her. "Good. Did Lieutenant Provenza fill you in on tonight's operation?" she asked him. "Yes, we are to follow Randall after he gets out of work and hopefully, he will lead us to where you guys will be set up," Mike said. "Correct, thank you for keeping me informed," Sharon said and was about to hang up her phone but Mike asked another question.

"Commander, about that, Julio and I were wondering if this anonymous tip isn't anonymous but someone we've dealt with before," Mike came straight to the point on this one. Sharon looked to see Andy coming out of the house and towards the car. "Yes, Lieutenant, we have dealt with this person previously. It is Croelick and just so you know, we are holding him for now on a trespassing charge. However, I want the team to remain objective. Randall is our guy and we need to catch him in the act," Sharon explained to him.

"Of course Commander," Mike stated and then hung up his phone. He turned to Julio and sighed. "You were right, it is Croelick," he told Julio. "Man, I bet Flynn is livid!" Julio wondered how Andy took the news as they followed the fire trucks back to the fire station.

Andy got in the car and looked at Sharon. "Everything okay?" he asked as he placed the clothes he was going to change into in the backseat. "I informed Mike that Croelick was where the tip came from. Since he showed up this morning I thought it was only fair that he and Julio know now since everyone else does," she told him as he pulled out of the driveway. "Speaking of Croelick," she started and Andy groaned.

"Andy, I don't know how many times I need to tell you this. You cannot beat the crap out of Croelick because you feel like it. I understand what he's done and gotten away with, but from the former head of FID," Sharon continued but Andy held his hand up to stop her from talking further. "Yeah, I know, I get it," he stated to her and continued to drive them back to the office.

"No, I don't think you do get it," she said back to him in an angrier tone, emphasizing on the word do. "What if he sues the LAPD again, or you individually, claiming police brutality? FID would have to investigate you, and me as your commanding officer! How would that look to Matthew? Have you thought about that?" she quickly stated to him as they pulled into the parking garage.

Andy parked the car and sat there, staring at the steering wheel and waited until she was done scolding him. She was right. If Croelick decided to sue the department or him for police brutality, he would be done. And how would you explain that to a nine year old boy who idolizes you? The car was silent for a minute before Sharon stepped out. Andy was about to say something but it was too late as Sharon had already shut her door.

Andy sat there for a few seconds and slammed his hand into the steering wheel and cursed. 'How did this get turned around to my fault?' he thought to himself. "She's the one who failed to mention Croelick being at the house last night, and she's mad at me?" he said out loud to himself and then got out of the car. He shook his head as he stepped towards the elevators. He ran into Provenza there. Provenza had been waiting for him.

"You messed up, didn't you?" Provenza grumbled to Andy as they waited for the elevator. "What do you mean?" Andy asked him. "Oh come on Flynn! I saw Sharon as she was walking to the elevators by herself and when I mentioned your name, I got a 'he needed some space' talk from her," Provenza stated as they both stepped into the elevator. Andy huffed as the doors closed.

"What I'd like to know is how am I the bad guy again in all of this when she didn't let me know that Croelick was standing outside the house at the driveway last night, waiting for her to pull out?" Andy asked Provenza. "Look, I told you from the beginning to keep your relationship with the then Captain and now Commander out of the office," Provenza said as he counted to number of floors left to their stop.

"I don't care what you do, Flynn, but you make it up to her one way or another!" Provenza said as he stepped out of the elevator. Andy caught up with him as he turned the corner in the hallway. "Say you're sorry, say she's right, just say something to correct this," Provenza added. "Anything else you want to add?" Andy quipped back at him as he held the door open to the office. "Yes, you better pray Croelick doesn't sue you or the department," he added and then walked over to his desk.

Andy glanced at Sharon in her office as he made his way over to his desk and placed his clothes on top of it. They had about an hour before they had to return to the location where, hopefully, Randall would show up to pick up his things and start whatever fire he's supposed to start. "Dammit," he mumbled. 'Why did Croelick show up? Why now?' he thought to himself. He decided he was going to do some research into Croelick before he had to get himself ready for their operation. "There has to be a reason he showed up," he sat there at his desk and started to work at his computer.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 7

Bill Croelick sat in the holding cell of the PAB and watched as officers kept walking back and forth down the hallway. This was not how he had pictured everything going. He thought that if he told Sharon and Andy Flynn, even though he knew Andy would jump on the chance to beat him, what he heard when Randall was speaking to him, they would have to investigate it. He thought he wouldn't see the inside of a holding cell ever again. But his plan backfired on him a little when Sharon threw him for a loop and decided to charge him with a menial trespassing charge.

He thought that if Sharon and her team were concentrated so much on Randall, that they wouldn't look into the other wildfires that had burned. They wouldn't find his signature way on how he liked to burn his victims. They wouldn't find the body of the dead girl that he had met a few months before in the same bar where he met Randall. He had started that one fire a month ago and someone had concluded that it started in a fire pit in the forest not being completely put out by a camper.

He knew Sharon couldn't keep him in here for long as there was always the threat of him suing the department again. He knew she, of all people, didn't want that to happen. He just decided to sit back on the bench and wait until she let him go, and then that's when he would really make her pay for crossing him.

Meanwhile, Andy was still sitting at his desk going over some information on his computer. He had pulled up Croelick's financials again, but this time found something interesting. After their encounter with him last year, he had told them that he was going back to Fresno, but as Andy read further, that wasn't what happened. Croelick had rented an apartment for the past five months in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Andy glanced at the clock, he knew he was running out of time to get himself dressed for this operation and also running out of time on them holding Croelick for a trespassing charge. He turned around in his chair and watched Sharon in her office. She was busy reading some reports. If he brought up what he had currently discovered with Croelick to her, it might look like he's trying to stick something on him. He needed more evidence on why Croelick didn't leave LA like he said he would.

He didn't hear Sharon's office door open and her walk over to him at his desk. "Don't you need to get ready?" she asked him as he ran another search on his computer. He was looking up all of the wildfires that had happened in the past five months in the LA area. He knew once a pyro always a pyro and Croelick wouldn't fall far from that assumption. He didn't answer Sharon and she thought it was because he was still mad from their conversation in the car earlier. She felt bad about that and ran her hand on the back of his neck to his shoulders. That got his attention and let her see what exactly he was working on at his computer.

He sat back and turned his chair as he looked up at her standing over him. "What are you working on?" she asked as she saw a map of the recent fires in the area. "Croelick lied to us. He didn't go back to Fresno like he said he did," he told her as he clicked on the report on his computer. "He's been renting this apartment for the past five months," he pointed to the listing on his screen. "Why would he rent that?" Sharon asked and Andy shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe because he wanted to be close to the next fire he started?" Andy suggested as he clicked on the fire map of LA and Sharon noticed one of the fires that had started north of the city on the outskirts of La Tuna Canyon Park. "You think he started that fire?" she asked him as she leaned forward looking at his computer screen. "I can't prove it yet, but yes, I do," Andy said with a serious look on his face that let Sharon know he wasn't joking around.

Sharon thought through some things in her head and nodded to Andy. "Get yourself ready for this evening. Let's catch one pyromaniac for now since we know he's going to strike and then we'll deal with the one in the holding cell," Sharon informed him and stepped away from his chair so that he could stand up. He nodded and then grabbed his change of clothes and headed towards the men's locker room on the floor to change into his outfit.

Sharon looked at his computer again. She glanced over and saw Amy was sitting at her desk. She wrote down some things on a piece of paper and walked over to Amy. "Detective, can you do me a favor and look into this apartment and fire that occurred here," Sharon handed her the paper with the information she had written down. Amy looked at it. "Sure Commander, anything else you want to know?" Amy asked her. Sharon thought for a moment. "Yes, find out if there had been any reports of a missing girl from the area," she added and glanced at Provenza who couldn't help but overhear what she told Amy.

Sharon walked back into her office and knew Provenza would follow her inside. "Commander, what exactly is going on?" Provenza asked her as he walked into her office. "I don't think Croelick is completely telling us the truth, and I am looking into that," Sharon told him as she gathered the papers on her desk into a pile. "I need you and Andy to concentrate on the task at hand, catching Randall tonight and stopping him from setting fire to Griffith Park," she added. "Fire Department has already been notified and Fire Station 51 will be on stand-by," Provenza informed her. "Good," she nodded.

"Do you think he's up to his old tricks?" Provenza asked as Sharon looked at him. "Your partner seems to think so," she said and then Andy caught her eye as he walked back into the office. He was dressed for his part, wearing old beat up jeans and a shirt. "Get dressed Lieutenant," Sharon told him and then walked out of her office to join Andy.

"So, do I pass for a homeless person?" Andy asked her quietly as she came up to him. "Uh, where did you find those?" she asked pointing to his jeans and the torn shirt he was wearing. "The back of our closet. I wore them to paint last time," he said and flashed his smile. She tried to stifle her laugh as she placed her hand in front of her mouth.

Andy paused for a moment and looked at his feet before he caught Sharon's eyes again. "Look, I just wanted to say," he started to say but Sharon stopped him. "Forget it Andy. I'm sorry I yelled at you in the car," she told him and placed her hand on his arm. "After all of this is over, can we talk?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Alright Flynn let's get this show on the road!" Provenza walked back into the office wearing raggy clothes. Sharon turned around to see her second in command wearing the most ridiculous outfit. Mismatch shoes and a shirt that had certainly seen better days. "Where'd you find all that?" he asked Provenza. "Patrice helped me pick this out," Provenza said. "Now come on, your friend John is waiting for you," he added.

"Lieutenants, please wear your vests under your outfits. We don't know if Randall will be armed, but let's do so as a precaution," Sharon informed them. They got themselves ready and Buzz walked over with the body cameras they were going to wear. "Here you go Lieutenant," he said to Andy and then placed the camera button right along the other buttons on his shirt so you couldn't tell he was wearing a camera. "We will have audio and video from this, so watch what you say," Buzz informed Provenza as he affixed his camera to his outer shirt.

"We'll see you in a little bit," Sharon told Andy as she squeezed his hand. "Be careful," she told both of them and they left the office to head back to the location where John was. Andy stared at Provenza as they walked towards the elevators. "What?" Provenza asked him. "Nothing. I'm just picturing Patrice giving you that outfit," Andy chuckled as they stepped onto the elevator. "What's wrong with this outfit?" Provenza asked him. "Nothing," Andy continued to chuckle.

As the doors opened, they walked out and towards Provenza's car. They were taking his because Sharon would be driving Andy's car over to the scene later on. "Cooper is going to meet us there with some kind of props so it looks like we fit in," Andy informed Provenza as he drove to the area. "Good. So, I know that you were looking into Croelick while we were still at the office. Mind telling me what that's all about?" Provenza asked him.

Andy sighed. "Look, you and I both know Croelick showing up here isn't a coincidence. He's been here for the past five months. He's been renting an apartment in the Eagle Rock neighborhood and I think he started a fire as well," he told Provenza. "The Commander filled me in when you were changing. Why do you think he came back?" he asked Andy.

"Because last year, he was introduced to the one thing he couldn't have. Just like when he was obsessed with Chief Johnson, I think he's obsessed with Sharon," Andy explained as he scratched his head. "Okay," Provenza thought about it. "But why would he move back to LA, and why do you think he started another fire recently?" he asked Andy. "Because he missed playing with it. He missed being in control," Andy answered as Provenza pulled off the 101.

"Let's say that he did start one of the fires that happened over the summer here, why would he risk getting caught by coming to you and Sharon at Matthew's baseball game with information on this Randall guy?" Provenza asked him as he turned down the street and parked in a parking area close to where John was located. Andy sighed as he listened to him. "I don't know," he muttered as he sat in the car. "Maybe he feels guilty?" he added as he glanced over at Provenza.

"Come on, let's get this over with!" Provenza told him as he stepped out of the car and put on his white bucket hat. Andy joined him and they were greeted by Lieutenant Cooper and another SIS officer. "Wow! You guys sure can fit the part!" Cooper said to them as they walked over to his location. "Yeah, yeah," Andy gestured with his hand to get Cooper moving along. "Okay, so we got you some things to help you blend in when Randall gets here," Cooper told them as they walked over to the two carts that were set up.

Andy looked over everything there and then glanced to see John still in the area where they had left him about two hours ago. "Hey Coop, do me a favor? Can you go buy some good food for John here?" Andy said as he pulled out his wallet and handed Cooper a twenty dollar bill. "Sure Lieutenant," Cooper said as he took his money. They had roughly an hour before Randall got out of work so time wise, they were good.

Provenza and Andy moved their props over to the location where John was located and settled their stuff there. "Who are you guys? This is my area!" John started to yell at them and Andy stepped over to John. "John, it's me, Andy, from earlier," he said as he held his badge out to him. "Oh, right. I didn't recognize you," John said as he looked at Andy and then Provenza. "Is the guy coming yet?" John asked him. Andy glanced at his watch. "I'd say we got about an hour left before he starts to show up," Andy informed him and John just nodded as he tended to his things.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Amy was on the phone with Robby O'Derno from missing persons. "Commander?" she called out to Sharon who was standing at the Murder Board. Sharon turned around and looked at Amy. "Robby said that there has been no reports of missing women in the area of where Croelick's apartment is located," Amy said as she hung up the phone. "There's got to be something there that we're missing," Sharon said as she turned to look at the board again.

"I'm heading out to our location now, Commander," Buzz said as he walked over to where Sharon and Amy were. "We'll join you in a half hour, Buzz, thank you," Sharon told him and then he walked out of the office. "Amy, call Doctor Morales and see if he's had any body come through his morgue that was badly or severely burned beyond recognition in the past couple of months, maybe with missing hands or feet," Sharon told her as she stared at Croelick's picture that was now on the side of the Murder Board. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Hobbs's number. "Andrea, yes, I need you to do something for me," she said when Andrea answered her phone.

Back at the park by the Hollywood Bowl, Provenza was settling in to his new role across from where John was sitting. Cooper came back with a meal that Andy wanted him to get and he handed the bag to him. "Hey thanks, I really appreciate it," Andy took the bag. "No problem, Lieutenant, I'm going to be in the van with Buzz until the Commander gets here," he stated and then walked away from the area.

Andy brought the bag of food to John and knelt down by his side. "Hey John, I brought you a decent meal. Here take it!" Andy offered him the bag and John reluctantly took the food from the bag and started to eat it. "Thank you," John muttered as he ate the food offered to him. Andy nodded and then went to where he would be sitting. Andy glanced at his watch, they had a half an hour until Randall got out of work.

Meanwhile, at the fire station, Randall was putting his things away in his locker and was getting ready to end his shift for the day. "Hey Meijers! Got any plans for the evening? Walter and I are heading to the local hang out to watch the game, want to come with?" one of the firefighters asked him in the locker room. Randall closed his locker and looked at the guy. "Oh, um maybe next time, I have something I need to do tonight," he said and smiled. "Sure, take it easy," the firefighter waved at Randall as he left the room. Randall continued to gather his things and then he left the station.

"We've got movement," Julio stated over the radio to the other SIS vehicles. "10-4, copy that," came over the radio in acknowledgement. "Call the Commander and tell her we are on the move," Mike told Julio and he started to drive. Julio pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

Sharon's phone rang as her and Amy were still in the Murder Room. "Yes, Detective?" Sharon answered her phone. "Randall's on the move, his shift just ended ma'am," Julio stated. Sharon gestured to Amy to wrap things up there. "Right, thank you Detective Sanchez," Sharon said and hung up her phone. "Randall's heading out, they're following him now, we need to get over to the location," Sharon said as Amy hung up her phone. "I just spoke to Doctor Morales, he's looking into the request you made and said to give him a day or two to look through his records," Amy informed her and Sharon took a deep breath. They didn't have one or two days to hold Croelick. She needed the results as quickly as possible.

"Amy, I want you to go down to the morgue and assist Doctor Morales with this new request. We need that information quickly as time is running out to hold Croelick," Sharon informed her and Amy acknowledged. Sharon gathered her things and headed down to the parking garage while Amy went to the morgue.

Back at the location, Cooper came over the radio and into the ear pieces that both Provenza and Andy were wearing. "Randall's leaving work," he said to them. "Copy that," Andy said as he glanced at Provenza and then at John. Andy stretched his arms as he sat there and waited for Randall to show up. He had hoped that Sharon was in position already, although she would have told him when she arrived and she hadn't done so yet.

"Come on Sharon," Andy mumbled to himself but Cooper and Buzz heard him. Buzz gave a side glance to Cooper as they sat in the van. "Is the Commander and Amy not here yet?" Buzz asked. "I just got a text from Amy saying that she had to go down to the morgue to help Doctor Morales with something but the Commander just left to head here," Cooper told him as he looked at his phone.

Sharon was sitting in the car on the 101 freeway in bumper to bumper traffic. She tried to look ahead to see if she could see anything that would be causing this traffic to be backed up like this. Technically this was an operation and she would be justified if she used lights and sirens to get around these vehicles by utilizing the shoulder. She decided to flip on the lights and siren. She maneuvered the car over to the shoulder and continued to drive.

She was able to get off the freeway safely and never saw what caused traffic to be so backed up. When she exited onto the regular streets, she turned off their lights and sirens and pulled up behind the van. Sharon got out of the car and walked over to the van. She knocked on the back door and Cooper opened the door. Sharon got inside and looked at the monitors that Buzz was looking at. "We'll only have the body camera views of when Randall shows up, Commander," Buzz informed her. "Okay," Sharon nodded.

"Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza, are you all set?" Sharon asked them over the radio. "We're good Commander," responded Provenza. "Ready for this dirt bag to come here," Andy responded and Sharon smiled at his comment. Andy looked around the area and knew that there would be SIS officers hiding in the park area where they were, just in case something went wrong at this exchange. The plan was for John to give the items to Randall and then follow him out to where ever he goes, and catch him in the act of starting the fire. "I hope this works," whispered Andy. "Me too," Sharon said as she sat in the van.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 8

Amy knocked on Doctor Morales's office door when she arrived at the morgue. "Come in," he said and Amy opened the door. Doctor Morales was sitting at his desk going over some reports. "Ah, Detective Sykes, what do I owe this pleasure?" Morales said as he turned around in his chair. "The Commander sent me to assist you in going through the reports she asked about. I told her what you had told me over the phone but she's in a time crunch and needs the info asap," Amy explained to him as she sat down on the open chair in his office.

"Time crunch huh?" Morales said as he turned around and picked up a stack of folders. "I was able to sort out cases of possible 'Jane Doe's' that came in the morgue throughout this summer," Morales handed a stack of folders to Amy. "Tell me, why is the Commander so interested in an unknown girl coming through my doors that was burned beyond recognition? I thought you guys were working on an arsonist who starts wildfires?" Morales asked Amy.

"Well, we're currently holding someone in our custody on a lesser charge and we can't hold him beyond 24 hours, which will end tomorrow afternoon. And I guess he's pretty psychotic when it comes to fires, although I've only dealt with him once last year but Lieutenant Flynn has, personally, several times," Amy informed Morales. Morales turned around again in his chair and looked at Amy. "The Commander's holding Croelick?" he asked her as he wanted her to confirm that. "Yeah, why? You know him?" Amy asked.

Morales turned around and dug through a file folder that he came across earlier. "Know his work? Yes, unfortunately I do," he said as he searched the files and found the one he was looking for. "I came across this one earlier before you came here, I just didn't put two and two together since I thought Croelick had left LA," Morales stated and then handed the file to Amy. "She came across my exam table late July. Her body was discovered after the wildfire was extinguished by the fire fighters. She was found near a camp and was thought to be one of the missing campers that they couldn't find at the time," Morales explained to her as she read through the report.

"And you think this girl was a victim of Croelick?" Amy asked him. "Well, the M.O. fits now that you told me Croelick is in the area," Morales stated and Amy nodded her head. "Her hands were missing when she came in, but her body was badly burned, it was hard to tell if her hands were cut off or just fell off from the fire," he continued. "Did you ever ID her?" Amy asked but Morales shook his head. "No, I didn't," he stated.

Meanwhile, Mike maneuvered the car down the streets of LA and headed towards the Hollywood Bowl where everyone else was set up in position. "He's coming up shortly on you guys," Julio said over the radio and Andy glanced over at Provenza and then nodded. "10-4," Andy spoke which was caught on the camera he was wearing. Sharon was still sitting in the van, monitoring the video feed that they were getting from the body cameras with Buzz. Everyone else was set up outside at the different locations.

"Randall's stepping out of his vehicle," Andy and Provenza heard and they knew this was it. "Okay John, just like we practiced, alright?" Andy said to him and he gave him a thumbs up. He went over with John what he should say to Randall when he showed up and he was willing to do whatever Andy told him.

Randall got out of his car and walked over to where John was sitting down on the ground. Provenza was across from him but further down and next to a tree. Andy was the closest to John. Randall walked up to John and looked around. "So John, you have some friends here now?" he asked him as he knelt down to be closer to John. "Uh, that guy over there came up earlier in the day today and asked if I would mind him setting up his things over there," John stated as he pointed to the direction of Provenza.

Randall looked behind him to see Provenza. He was sitting there, looking like he was minding his own business, pretending to work on a crossword puzzle, and ever so slightly looking back to see what was going on. Buzz and Sharon were getting a perfect video feed from his camera and saw Randall clearly from it. Sharon's phone alerted her to a text message from Amy. 'Morales found a Jane Doe that matches Croelick's MO, late July, and was brought in after wildfire was extinguished' Amy's message said as Sharon read it.

Sharon took a deep breath. Now they just needed to prove that Croelick started that fire and killed that girl as she looked at the video monitor to see what Randall was doing. Andy's video feed was a little fuzzy and they couldn't get a clear picture from it for some reason. "What's wrong with Andy's video all of a sudden?" Sharon asked Buzz and Buzz shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure, there shouldn't be any interference in the area where he's located," Buzz said as he pushed some buttons on the controller he was holding.

"Oh, and what about that guy?" Randall asked John as he pointed to Andy. "Him, I've known him for a while now. I've met him in one of the shelters a couple of months ago. We met up again today," John explained as Andy sat there and watched. "Okay, Johnny. Well, here is $100 dollars for watching my stuff. I knew I could count on you. Thanks again," Randall said as he stood up and gathered his items: the canisters of turpentine, small bundles of kindle, the bag of rags, and gas containers and placed them all on the small cart he had brought with him.

Randall looked over at John again. He knew that he should tell him to move somewhere else because the fire that he was going to start would probably move in the direction where he was situated in with all of his belongings. He started to walk away with his things and Andy was going to stand up but then saw Randall turn around and walk back to where John was sitting. "Because I don't want to see you get hurt, I would advise you to find some other place to live, as this area is not going to be safe in a couple of hours," Randall informed John.

Andy watched the second exchange between John and Randall. Provenza was watching as well. "Just acknowledge it John and let him move away from you," Andy muttered under his breath quietly. John sat there and listened to what Randall said to him. He paused before he answered him. "Okay I will do that," John said and then started to gather his things and Randall turned around and left. "He's on the move," Andy said and waited to follow him.

Two SIS officers went towards John and helped him with his things while Cooper went to see what was in Randall's car. Provenza stayed close to Andy as the two made their way towards the wooded area where Randall had gone to. The sun was just started to set so there was still daylight out, but it made it harder to see.

Andy was about 100 yards behind Randall and Provenza was close to him when they saw Randall stop at a clearing in the forest. They both stopped themselves. Sharon was still in the van. "Where are they?" she said to Buzz as he was trying to get a read on Andy's camera. "I don't know," he said. "Lieutenants Flynn, Provenza, where are you located?" she said over the radio but was only met with silence. She repeated herself again but got the same result. Panic now showed on her face as she waited.

"Detective Sanchez, Lieutenant Tao, do you have any visual of Lieutenants Flynn or Provenza?" she asked them over the radio. "Negative ma'am," Julio answered her as he started to run up the path that he thought they had gone up earlier while Mike drove the car up and around the area to be at the staging where the fire department was currently located. "Dammit!" she said as she listened again for any sign of acknowledgement from Andy or Provenza. She then looked back and forth between the video screens as Buzz tried to fix the pictures they were getting from Andy's camera.

"What's he doing?" Provenza whispered to Andy and tried to get a better look. Andy squinted to see what was going on but all he could see was Randall bending over. "I'm not sure," Andy said as he looked behind him and saw Julio coming up. He held up his hand for Julio to slow down and he did. He slowly made his way to where Andy was kneeling. "Your video feed isn't working anymore, and the Commander said she couldn't get any audio from you guys," Julio told them.

"The whole thing?" Provenza asked. "No, just when you guys started to follow him up here," Julio stated and then saw Andy trying to adjust his body camera. "Commander I have them, do you copy?" Julio called over his radio very softly and then turned down the volume on the radio. "Yes Detective," Sharon answered and breathed a sigh of relief.

Randall bent down to pick up the turpentine canisters from the cart and started to spread the liquid from the canisters throughout the clearing area in the forest. He had timed it perfectly as the wind was starting to pick up. He knew that the wind would carry the fire further and further down, threatening homes of innocent people. He didn't care as he started to spread the kindle around the area and gathered the brush.

Andy saw what Randall was doing and tried to fix his camera so that they could capture it on video. "Sir if we move now, we can stop him from starting this blaze because once it's lit, it's going to move fast," Julio stated. "Yeah, just let me see if this works," Andy said as he fiddled some more with his camera.

Sharon and Buzz were still in the van waiting for the video feed to come back. Buzz was still working on some things on their end when they got Andy's video back online. "Buzz! We got something back!" Sharon said as she tapped him on his shoulder. They saw Randall in the background and as Andy turned, they saw Provenza and Julio with him. "We got video feed from Lieutenant Flynn's camera again," Sharon said over the radio and Julio acknowledged.

"Sir, they have video again," Julio informed Andy and he nodded. "Alright, let's make our move before he lights the place up," Andy told Julio and Provenza. The three of them moved forward and the rustling noise that they made alerted Randall that something or someone was coming. Randall looked up and saw he was being approached by three men. He recognized Andy and Provenza from his earlier encounter with John.

"Randall! LAPD! Stop and put your hands up!" Andy yelled at him as he moved forward. Randall decided to make a run for it but not before he lit the area up with his lighter. "Dammit! He started a fire!" Andy cried out and started to run after Randall. "Julio! Call for Mike and the fire department. Get them up here now!" Provenza stated as he blocked face from the fire with his hand. They were now separated from Andy and Randall.

Provenza pulled out his phone and dialed Sharon's number. Sharon watched everything unfold in the van with Buzz. She looked down at her phone and saw Provenza calling her. The video feed was now shaky at best and she knew Andy was chasing the guy but couldn't tell what else was going on. "Commander, Flynn is going after Randall. He started the fire and we got separated," Provenza said as he caught his breath.

"Are you alright?" she asked him as she watched the video feed from Andy's camera. "Yes Commander, Mike is coming right now with the fire department to put out this blaze that Randall started. Hopefully Flynn catches him," he said and then hung up his phone. Sharon continued to watch the video and hoped that Andy was okay.

"Randall! Stop!" Andy shouted after him as he continued to run. Randall looked back to see where Andy was and he mis-stepped which allowed Andy to tackle him to the ground. Randall turned around on the ground and held the lighter in his hand. Andy smelled the turpentine on Randall's clothes which was now on his clothes as well. Randall lit the lighter he held and Andy knocked it out of his hand. Randall and Andy were now fighting on the ground. Andy was on his back looking up at Randall as he grabbed Andy and started to choke him. Andy took one of his hands and grabbed Randall's arm while he tried to loosen Randall's grip with his other hand.

Sharon watched as Andy and Randall struggled. She heard Andy starting to choke as Randall was on top of him. "Andy!" she whispered as she watched, she needed to do something but felt powerless at the moment. She started to get out of the van but Buzz stopped her. "I can get us closer to the area where they are located, but the fire department might block us from getting up there," Buzz called out to Sharon as he was now sitting in the driver's seat of the van. "Go Buzz, please hurry!" Sharon told him as she stayed in the back. Buzz put the van in drive and drove them up the road to get as close as they could to the location.

Andy punched Randall and he loosened his grip on Andy's neck. Randall then punched Andy in his shoulder but Andy punched Randall in his stomach and he doubled over on to the ground. Andy climbed over on top of Randall and held him down until he could get his handcuffs out. Randall was now on the ground lying face first as Andy handcuffed his hands behind his back. Andy stood up and caught his breath. He then pulled Randall up from the ground.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," Andy started to read him his rights as he continued to gasp from being choked. He held onto his arm and then started to walk Randall back to the clearing where the fire was located.

"Lieutenant!" Julio yelled as he saw Andy on the other side of the fire with Randall in his custody. The fire department pretty much had the blaze under control as Andy made his way back with Randall to where Julio was standing. "I'll take him sir," Julio told Andy as he took custody of Randall and moved him away from the scene. Andy bent over and coughed some more. Provenza walked over to him. "Flynn, you okay?" he asked him. Andy waved him off as he stood up. "Fine," he gasped again.

Provenza looked at his friend and then looked at the van that pulled up behind Mike's car. He then saw Sharon climb out of the van and walk towards the fire line. She held up her badge to one of the fire fighters and he let her through. She was looking to see where Andy was located and saw Provenza waiving her over to them. She ran over to their location and saw Andy was having a hard time as he was bent over again. "Andy," she whispered as she saw him.

Andy straightened up as Sharon placed her hand on his back. "I'm fine," he told her as they looked at each other. The area was being covered with smoke from the extinguished fire and it was starting to overcome them. "Let's get you moved to a different location. I want someone to look you over," she said to him. Andy shook his head, almost in protest. "I'm fine, really," he told her as he coughed up some saliva and spat on the ground.

Sharon glanced over at Provenza. "I'll stay here and monitor this, you take care of him," he said and pointed at Andy. "Come on," Sharon said to Andy and he reluctantly walked with her back to where the car and van were parked. There was an ambulance waiting as well and Sharon waved the two paramedics over to meet them. Andy saw them heading over and stopped walking. "Andy, please just let them take a look at you, for my sake?" Sharon pleaded with him as she looked into his eyes.

"Fine," he mumbled and allowed the paramedics to look over him. He walked with them to the back of the ambulance and sat on the stair as they checked him out. "Lieutenant, can you tell me what happened?" one of the paramedics asked him as he looked at his face while the other one took Andy's blood pressure. "The guy ran, I tackled him, we fought, he choked me, I punched him and then handcuffed him, the end," Andy told the paramedic as he looked at Sharon who was watching him. "Can you take a deep breath for me?" the paramedic asked Andy and he did.

"Blood pressure is 125/80," the other paramedic stated. Sharon had heard him and turned to the paramedic. "It's a little elevated but given the factor of the fight you were just in, it's understandable," he said to Andy and Sharon. "Lungs are clear," the other paramedic stated as he listened to Andy take deep breaths. "You're going to have some bruising on your neck from where the guy choked you, but I don't see or feel any permanent damage," the paramedic stated as he looked at Andy's neck and felt around it.

"If you start to have any problems, Lieutenant, get to an emergency room, okay?" the paramedic told Andy and he nodded. "Thanks," he told them as he stood up and walked away with Sharon next to him. "See, I told you I'm fine," he said to her. "Thank you for humoring me," she said and the tension between them was still faintly there from before.

Provenza walked over to where they were standing now. "Commander, everything is under control here. Julio and Mike took our fire starter back to the PAB. Now, I suggest we get back as well so I can change out of these clothes," Provenza stated and then walked over to the van where Buzz was waiting for them. All three of them got in the van and Buzz drove them back down to where their cars were parked.

Cooper was waiting for them when they arrived. "Commander, I'm having SID tow Randall's car into the print shed so they can go over it there," he told Sharon. "Thank you Lieutenant," Sharon said to him and then continued to walk to her car with Andy. Provenza got in his car. "I'll meet you back at the office then," he said as he got in and started his car. Sharon glanced at Andy who then got into the driver's seat of her car and she slightly shook her head. She then slid into the passenger's seat and handed Andy her keys.

As Andy drove, Sharon informed him of what Amy discovered with Doctor Morales. "A female body, badly burned beyond recognition was brought into the morgue late July this year after that wildfire had been extinguished," Sharon said as he drove. Andy listened to what she was saying. "Can we prove he did that?" he asked her. "I'm not sure," Sharon said as she looked out the window onto the skyline of downtown Los Angeles. "I have Amy working on that right now," she added as she glanced back at Andy.

"I called Andrea earlier," she said after a pause. Andy kept looking straight ahead as Sharon spoke. "Oh yeah?" he muttered as he kept driving down the 101 towards downtown. "I'm having her look into whether or not we can charge Croelick again and what exactly was in the settlement agreement all those years ago," she said as she shifted in her seat. Andy didn't say anything to her, he just kept driving. She sat there looking out her window. They exited off the freeway and Sharon received another text on her phone.

This time it was from Nicole saying that everything was fine with Matthew. "Your daughter says that everything is fine with Matthew," she said as she looked at her phone. Andy came to a stop at a red light. He glanced at Sharon who was still looking out her window. Andy looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry Sharon," he said to her. Sharon turned her head and looked at him. "I want to make sure things are good between us," he gave her a pleading look. She took his free hand in hers and squeezed it.

The light turned green and Andy started to drive down the street. Sharon still held Andy's hand as he pulled into the parking garage of the PAB and parked the car. Once he turned the car off, Sharon leaned over the center console and pulled Andy in for a kiss. He held her face as they kissed in the car and one of his hands went into her hair. "I'm sorry," he mumbled into her mouth as they kissed each other passionately. Sharon moved her hands to the inside of Andy's jacket he was wearing and searched for a way to touch his skin. "I'm sorry too," she said as she breathed him in. She pulled back and scrunched her face.

"What's that smell?" she asked him as she scratched her nose with her finger. "Turpentine," Andy mumbled as he bowed his head and sighed. Sharon placed two fingers under his chin and lifted his head back up to look at her. She then pulled him in for another kiss. This time it was a very slow and lingering kiss she gave him.

Before they could get carried away, they both opened their eyes and looked at each other when they broke their kiss. Making out in their car at the parking garage of the PAB is something they didn't want to be doing. Andy looked at Sharon and gave her a smile. "Come on, let's deal with Randall now so we can focus on Croelick afterwards," Sharon said to him. He still held her hand and brought it up to his lips. "And then, after that, what?" he asked her as he was now acting like school boy who had just asked the pretty girl out. "Maybe we can ask Nicole and Dean to watch Matthew while we go somewhere?" she gave him a mischievous smile and then exited the car.

"But first, you need to change out of those clothes!" she teased him as they walked towards the elevators. "When we get upstairs, I'll go to the locker room and change back into my suit. And I'll throw these clothes into a garbage bag until I can wash them," he said as they stepped onto the elevator. "Oh, so you plan on still keeping those clothes then?" she asked as she bit her bottom lip.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews of this story so far. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 9

Amy was sitting at her desk when the team started to filter their way back from the operation. Julio and Mike walked in with Randall and they moved him to one of the interview rooms. Provenza was next to step inside the office. "How did it go, Lieutenant?" Amy asked as he passed her on his way to his desk. "Well, we almost got burned by the fire that Randall started, but other than that," he said as he picked up his clothes from before. "I'm going to go change my clothes. Sykes, please inform the Commander not to start the interview until I get back," Provenza walked out of the office and headed towards the men's locker room on the floor.

"Um, yes I was planning on keeping these pants and shirt, why? You don't want me to?" Andy asked Sharon as they stepped off the elevator on the ninth floor. She smiled. "It's not that I don't want you to keep them, it's just why do you need to keep them?" Sharon shook her head as they turned the corner to head into the office. "What if you want to re-paint the house?" he suggested as he shrugged his shoulders. Andy held the office door open as Sharon walked inside.

"Commander, Julio and Mike have Randall in interview room 1 and Lieutenant Provenza is changing his clothes. He wanted me to tell you not to start the interview without him," Amy said as she stood up and watched Sharon walk over to her. "Good Amy, how far are we on our other problem?" she asked her. Amy glanced at Andy as he passed her and walked over to his desk to pick up his bag with his suit inside.

"Doctor Morales stated that this girl was brought into his morgue late July after the fire at La Tuna was extinguished. They thought it was one of the missing campers at that time and didn't pay much attention to the body itself. He also said that her hands were missing," Amy told Sharon as Andy gestured to Sharon that he was going to go change as he walked past them.

"Did you find any info on his apartment that he's renting?" Sharon asked her as Amy handed the report from Morales to read. "Yes, he started renting that apartment earlier this year in March. He paid the rent up front and the landlord said that Croelick gave him the whole next year's rent in advance," Amy walked with Sharon into her office. "So, he's planning on staying for a while I take it," Sharon said as she continued to read the report. "Looks that way," Amy answered.

Meanwhile, Provenza was coming out of the locker room as Andy was walking in. Provenza sniffed as Andy approached him. "What is that smell Flynn?" he asked him. "It's turpentine. While I was wrestling with our fire friend, I guess he had some on his clothes and it got on mine," Andy said with a disgusted tone. "Huh, maybe you should throw those clothes out?" Provenza said as he made his way out the door. Andy glared back at him and shook his head. He then made his way into the locker room and changed out of his clothes, putting them in a bag and then got dressed in the suit he was wearing earlier.

He glanced at his watch and it was now almost 8 o'clock at night. His phone rang as it sat on the bench in the locker room. Andy went down to grab it and he saw Nicole's picture on his phone. He knew she had texted Sharon earlier and said that everything was going well with Matthew. He wondered why she was calling him as he answered the phone. "Hey sweetheart, is everything okay?" he said hoping it was. "Hey Dad, sorry to bother you. I know Sharon said that you guys were still at work on that case," Nicole said apologetic.

"No problem, what's going on? Is everything okay?" Andy asked her, now worried. "Matthew just wanted to talk to either you or Sharon, if that's possible," Nicole explained and Andy scratched his head with his free hand. "Oh, sure that's fine," Andy said and he waited for Nicole to put Matthew on the phone. "Dad?" Matthew said in the phone.

"Hey, kiddo! What's going on?" Andy asked him. "Are you still working?" he asked him and Andy sat on the bench. "Yes, we are, unfortunately. I'm sorry kid," Andy told him. There was silence on the phone and Andy looked at it to make sure they were still connected. "Is everything okay, Matthew?" he asked him. "Yes, I just miss you and mom that's all," Matthew muttered in the phone. Andy smiled. "I know, we miss you too, but you are having fun there with Colin and Avery, right?" Andy asked him as he stood up and made his way out of the locker room with his bag.

"Yes," Matthew said as Andy made his way back towards the Murder Room. "Your mom and I are working very hard to close this case, buddy, so it won't be long until you're back home, okay?" Andy said to him as he walked into the Murder Room and looked to see where Sharon was. He spotted her and Amy in her office. "Okay buddy, I have to go now. Be good alright?" Andy said to Matthew. "Alright, love you," Matthew huffed. "Love you too," Andy said, and smiled as he hung up his phone.

Andy placed his bag by his desk and sat down while he waited for Sharon to come out of her office. "Do we have any information on this Jane Doe?" Sharon asked Amy as she saw Andy walk back to his desk. "No, Doctor Morales said there's no way to identify her. No fingerprints to even try and her teeth were knocked out," Amy stated as she watched Sharon take in what she had just said. "Dammit," Sharon muttered under her breath. She then looked at Amy. "Thank you Detective," she said and Amy left her office. Sharon shook her head. Without having a way to identify this potential victim, she knew she would have to release Croelick. Something she was not looking forward to doing.

Andy saw Amy leave Sharon's office as he turned in his chair. He then glanced at Sharon who looked defeated at the moment. He decided to step into her office for a brief second to find out what happened. He knocked on her door and opened it, stepping inside before he closed the door. He stood there and watched her before he cleared his throat. "Everything alright?" he asked her. She let out of sigh before she responded.

"No, the body I told you about earlier, we can't identify her, there's no fingerprints or teeth to go by," Sharon told him and he knew what that meant in the long run, they were going to have to release Croelick. "We need more proof that Croelick was behind this," she told him as she stood up from her desk and walked over to where he was standing. "Maybe we can trip him up?" Andy suggested as he looked at Sharon standing in front of him now. They stood there in silence trying to figure out their next move with Croelick. "We need to interview Randall first before we do anything with Croelick," she said and he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Your son called me while I was in the locker room changing," Andy told her and she wondered which son before Andy explained further. "Matthew, he wanted to know if we were still working and I told him we were. He seemed a little homesick to me. Said he misses us," he told her and she gave him a small smile thinking about their son. "So maybe going away, just the two of us, is not a good idea if he misses us and we've been gone less than 24 hours?" she told him as she walked with him out of her office. "We'll see, let's just get this part over with," he told her as they walked towards the interview room.

"Amy, please continue to work on that information. Maybe you can find something else?" Sharon stated to her across the room. "Will do," Amy replied and stayed at her desk. Provenza joined Sharon and Andy outside electronics and Mike and Julio joined them there as well. "He's not asking for a lawyer," Mike informed Sharon and the rest of them. "Lieutenant Provenza, would you join me in the interview room?" Sharon said and Provenza nodded.

Mike, Julio, and Andy walked into the electronics room where Buzz was already sitting down waiting for the interview to start. Andy sat down in the chair next to Buzz while Julio and Mike stood behind them. "Hello Randall Meijers, I'm Commander Sharon Flynn and this is Lieutenant Provenza," Sharon said as she sat down in the interview room. Randall just looked at her but didn't say anything.

"I know you have been read your rights and you waved a lawyer, is that correct?" Sharon asked him as he sat there staring at her. "Yeah, that's right, I don't need a lawyer," he finally said and Sharon glanced at Provenza. "Well, if that's the case then let's get right down to business. Why did you want to set Griffith Park on fire tonight?" Provenza asked him. "For revenge of course!" Randall stated and Sharon couldn't believe the frankness of his answer.

"What sort of revenge?" Provenza asked him as he leaned forward in his chair. "Revenge against the city for their budget cuts on the fire department pension," Randall stated. "Are you guys gonna ask me if this was the first fire I started?" he added as he looked at them. Sharon and Provenza glanced at each other. Andy couldn't believe the boldness with this guy as he sat there and watched it unfold on the monitor.

"Is this the first fire you started, Randall?" Provenza asked him. "Nope," he simply stated. "Okay, how many fires have you started then?" Sharon asked him as she was getting tired of this little game he started to play with them. "Ten," he answered her. "You've started ten fires? Were they all this year?" Provenza asked him. "Some last year, but a majority were this year," he answered.

"Okay, Mister Meijers, I'm going to remind you that you can have a lawyer present with you while we are asking you questions, do you understand that?" Sharon asked him again. "Yeah, I know, and I don't need a lawyer. You guys caught me red-handed starting a fire, I'm not going to deny that, nor am I going to deny starting other fires," Randall stated.

"This guy's a sicko," Andy muttered to the rest of the team as they watched. "Does he think he's going to get a deal without a lawyer?" Julio asked. "Maybe he's got something that we don't know about and he's going to use that to negotiate a deal?" Mike added as they continued to watch the interview.

"What was the last fire that you started?" Provenza asked him. "Oh, that was in the middle of the summer, in the La Tuna forest," Randall said and that got Sharon's and Andy's attention. "What?" mumbled Andy as he shifted in his chair. Sharon glanced up at the camera as if she was looking right at Andy and then turned her head back to Randall.

"Please, explain that fire to me," Sharon asked Randall as he sat across from them. "What's there to explain? I started it, it wasn't controlled, and ironically, my station helped finally extinguish it. I actually was on the fire line when it was extinguished, kind of poetic justice for the fire," Randall laughed but Sharon nor Provenza found him amusing. "Did anyone help you start that fire?" Sharon asked him. "Oh, you want to know if I had an accomplice?" Randall stated as he looked at Sharon and Provenza. He smiled. "Bill warned me about you guys, you in particular Commander, although he mentioned you were only a captain," Randall said.

"Who's Bill?" Provenza asked him wondering if he would name Croelick. Randall looked at Provenza. "I think I'm going to need a lawyer now," he said as he sat back in his chair. "Yeah, I want a lawyer," he said again after a brief pause. "Fine," Sharon said as she stood up from the chair and walked out of the room. Provenza followed her and two patrol officers stayed and watched Randall.

Sharon walked into the electronics room. "I want Croelick up here, now!" she said and then turned around and headed towards her office. Andy took a deep breath as he looked at everyone else in the room. "Julio, go with Flynn and bring up our resident firefly," Provenza said and then thought about sending them together. "On second thought, Mike you go with Flynn, Julio stay here," Provenza changed his mind and then Andy and Mike left the room.

"Amy, come with me," Sharon said as she passed the desks and headed towards her office. Amy stood up, grabbed the reports she was working on, and followed her inside. "I need to know everything about the La Tuna fire, how it was started, when it was started, how it was extinguished, what fire companies were there, and were there any victims besides our Jane Doe," Sharon informed Amy as she walked into her office.

Sharon picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Andrea, sorry I know it's late, but we caught the arsonist who started a fire earlier tonight. Yes the guy we've been following on that tip from Croelick. It may turn out that the two of them are working together. Randall already lawyered up after he confessed and now I have my detectives bringing Croelick up from holding to answer a few questions," Sharon said and nodded her head as she listened to what Andrea said. "Thank you," Sharon said and then hung up the phone.

"Andrea is coming down here to make sure we don't run into any legal snags during this," Sharon informed Amy as she sorted through the reports on the fire. Amy handed Sharon a report on some information she requested. "That should give you a synopsis of the fire in question," Amy told her and Sharon began to read it. "Where did you find this?" she asked her. "There's a wildfire database maintained by the LA County Fire Department, I got it from there," Amy said and then continued to go through the reports.

Provenza walked into Sharon's office as the two of them were going through the reports. "Commander, Julio notified the Public Defender's office and they should be sending a lawyer over here soon," he told her. "Good, I notified Andrea and she should be here shortly as well," Sharon looked up from the report. "Flynn and Mike are bringing Croelick up here, they are going to bring him to interview room two," Provenza informed her. She closed her eyes for a brief second and hoped that Andy could control his temper long enough to bring Croelick up in one piece.

Down at Holding, Andy was filling out the log book as Mike walked over to the cell where Croelick was sitting. "Come on Croelick. We still have some questions for you," Mike said as Croelick stood up from the bench. "What, Andy couldn't come down here himself?" Croelick said and then turned around and saw Andy standing at the end of the hallway. "Sorry to disappoint you," Andy said to him as he walked towards Croelick. Andy then patted down Croelick to make sure he didn't have anything on him that he may have found in the cell he was sitting in.

"I think you like patting me down, Lieutenant," Croelick said as Andy checked him. "Like is very underrated," Andy said as Croelick turned around. "What happened to your face and your neck? Did Sharon get rough with you?" Croelick smiled and Andy pushed him up against the wall. "Andy," Mike said as Andy looked into Croelick's eyes. "We ran into your friend, Randall, tonight. Let's just say, he wasn't happy getting caught," Andy gritted his teeth as he said that to Croelick.

Andy let go of his hold on Croelick and then turned him around and placed handcuffs on his hands. "Is this really necessary?" Croelick asked. "For your safety and ours," Mike said and gave him a small smile. Croelick shook his head and then Mike led the way out. Croelick walked in between Mike and Andy as they made their way towards the elevators to head up to the ninth floor.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks for the reviews again, I really appreciate it. Real life has been hectic but I was determined to get this next chapter up before tomorrow night's new episode. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10

Sharon was waiting outside Interview Room 2 when Andy and Mike brought Croelick there. Croelick saw her waiting for him and he smiled. "I knew you didn't forget about me, Sharon," Croelick said as he walked past her into the room. She glanced at Andy and they silently nodded to each other. Sharon followed them into the room and closed the door behind her.

Mike removed the handcuffs on Croelick and handed them back to Andy. "Please Bill, have a seat. There's a lot of questions I have to ask you," Sharon said as she sat down across the table from him. Croelick rubbed his wrists and then looked at Andy who was standing behind Sharon and then Mike who had sat down next to her. He pulled out the chair and then sat down.

"Let's get started," Croelick sneered as he waited for Sharon to start. "Okay, let's start with this, why are you renting an apartment in Eagle Rock? Did you miss being in LA, is that why?" Sharon asked him. Croelick smiled. "Oh I see, you're turning this investigation onto me now, right?" Croelick questioned as he looked at Sharon and then up at Andy. "Answer the question," Andy told him. Croelick snickered at Andy and then stared at Sharon.

"Yes, I'm currently renting an apartment there," he answered her. "Why?" Sharon questioned him. "Well, I had such a nice time last year when I was called back by you guys that I decided it was time for me to move back to LA," Croelick leaned back on the chair. "I'm glad you mentioned that, because I have the settlement agreement that you made with the DA's office when you sued the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD, and I'll tell you, Bill, that it said you wouldn't come back or step foot in LA county," Sharon said and Andy shifted in his spot as he stood there watching Croelick.

"Uh oh, looks like you violated that agreement, Croelick," Andy said to him and Croelick looked up at him. "No, no I did not, you guys called me last year and asked me to come down because you had questions. If anyone violated that agreement, it was you guys," Croelick stated back to them. "Fine, I'm not going to push that issue when there are others on the table," Sharon said as she folded her hands on top of the table.

"We caught your friend, Randall Meijers, earlier tonight. And it was quite an interesting conversation with him afterwards when we brought him back here. You know what he told us?" Sharon asked him. Croelick shook his head and wondered where Sharon was going with this interview. "He mentioned you by name. Now I thought you didn't really know him," she added and he shifted in his chair. "I told you that I overheard him talking about fires and I wanted to see what he had in mind," Croelick stated as he pointed his finger down on the table.

The rest of the team was watching the interview from Electronics. "Oh, I think we hit a nerve," Provenza stated as they watched the monitors.

"A body was brought to the morgue in late July and it was brought to our attention recently. This body was badly burned, almost unrecognizable, her hands missing when she was discovered in La Tuna Canyon, after the fire was extinguished," Sharon informed Croelick. "This is a picture of the body," she showed him and he took the picture in his hands and looked at the body. "What I find strange is that this body was burned the same way you burned your girlfriend, Bill," Sharon said. "Can you explain that coincidence?" she added as she leaned forward in her chair.

Croelick stared at her. "It's well known what you did to your girlfriend all those years ago, so don't look surprised I would know that," Sharon stated trying to see if Croelick would take the bait. Croelick smiled. "Did Andy describe to you how I did that?" Croelick asked her in wonder. "Is that what you talk about when he's lying on top of you?" Croelick stated after a brief pause. "It's in the report of her murder, asshole," Andy gritted his teeth and stepped closer.

Croelick looked at Andy and smiled. "I'm not here to talk about the past, Sharon. That's not why you brought me back up here, is it?" Croelick focused back on Sharon. He then looked back at the picture he was holding in his hands.

"Randall stated to us that he started this fire back in July, but I don't quite believe him," Sharon added as Croelick looked up from the picture at her. 'Randall's taking credit for his work?' he thought to himself as he sat there. "Oh, so you think I started this fire?" he chuckled as he looked at them. "That's exactly what we think," Andy told him as he moved closer to stand right next to Sharon. Croelick shook his head and placed the picture back on the table.

"If you had more evidence that I was involved in that fire, I'd be arrested by now," Croelick stated. "Randall is your man for the fires, not me," he insisted. "You're lying," Andy told him. "Am I Lieutenant?" he fired back as he sat there. "You can't prove anything. You don't know who this person was who was burned. You can't put me at the scene. Why would I come back after all these years to start another fire?" Croelick asked them.

"Cause it's in you, and once you got a taste of it, you craved it and kept craving it until you can almost taste it again, and then one day you do taste it and all the feelings come back," Andy placed his hands on the table and got into Croelick's face as he spoke. Croelick looked at him as he spoke. "You should know," Croelick told him and he could tell he was getting under Andy's skin. Before Andy could do anything, he felt Sharon's hand on his arm. Andy stared at Croelick as he moved away from the table.

"Who was she Bill?" Sharon asked him point blank. Croelick looked at her and smiled. "Nice try Sharon but I know my rights, and if you don't have any evidence linking me to this fire and the body, I can walk out right now," Croelick sat back and then started to stand up. "Well, it's been a pleasure again. Thank yew," he stood up and started to walk towards the door.

"Bill, you came to us first with this information, why?" Sharon stood up and he stopped just before he got to the door. "Because Randall is psychotic and he needed to be stopped, so I figured with our relationship, I should tell you and Andy about him, as a concerned citizen of LA of course," Croelick answered her and then he started to go for the door again.

"One more thing before you walk out of here," Sharon said and Croelick stopped and looked at her. Andy watched them and he did not like how close Sharon was to Croelick at this point. Croelick was standing right next to her. He breathed in her scent as he closed his eyes and waited for her question. Andy took this opportunity to move Sharon behind him and when Croelick opened his eyes he was looking at Andy now instead.

He turned his head to Sharon, disappointed that she moved. "You want to know why Randall mentioned my name, right?" Croelick asked as he stared at Andy. "Yes," she said as she watched him. "Because I befriended him after I found out what he was planning to do and what he had done before. He bragged to me about it and anyone who does that, should be stopped," Croelick answered and then gestured for Andy to move out of his way.

"Always a pleasure Andy, Sharon, Lieutenant Tao," Croelick said to all three of them and then left the room. Andy watched him leave and head down the hallway. "We're just gonna let him walk out of here?" Andy stated in a louder than normal voice. Mike looked at Sharon and then at Andy. "I'm going to go check on something, excuse me," Mike said to them and then left the room as he could feel an argument brewing between the two.

Buzz turned the monitor to interview room 2 off. "Hey, why'd you do that?" Provenza asked him. "We don't need to see their conversation Lieutenant," Buzz answered. "Besides, I think the public defender is here for Randall," Buzz said as he pointed to that monitor. Provenza grumbled something under his breath as he stood up from his seat and walked out of Electronics.

"Andy, you and I both know we did not have anything solid against Croelick to hold him any longer than we already did," Sharon said to him and tried to calm him down. Andy was mad, but not at Sharon, at the stupid justice system all those years ago when Croelick was freed from prison. He would be a constant thorn in Andy's side from now on. "He killed her!" Andy yelled. "We can't prove that and until we do, he's free to go," Sharon stated and was interrupted by Julio before she could say anything else.

"Ma'am, Randall's appointed attorney is here now with him in Interview Room 1," Julio said as he stood in the hallway. "Thank you," she said as she turned to Julio and watched him leave before turning her attention back to Andy. "Andy I'd like you to sit in with me on this interview now, since he has an attorney, I want him to see your neck," she said as she ran her fingers on the back of his neck.

"He's not going to go away," Andy looked up at her and she looked into his eyes. "I know," she responded and their eyes spoke volumes to what words couldn't say at that moment. Andy stood up and walked with Sharon out of the room and towards the office where Interview Room 1 was located.

Meanwhile, Croelick left the PAB and started to walk down the street. It was dark out but the street lamps were on and the city was bustling with people going places. He'd gotten away with the fire and the body. It was too bad they didn't have a picture of the girl before she was burned beyond recognition. She was brunette just like Sharon and her type and build as well. When he first saw her in that bar, she reminded him of Sharon and that's why he started talking to her that night. A smile came across his face as he continued down the street.

Back in the Murder Room, Provenza waited for Sharon and Andy to return back to the office so they could re-start the interview with Randall. Andrea was waiting for them as well. "Andrea," Sharon said as she walked towards her. "If you can link Randall to all of the fires that he says he's started, we can press for arson charges but, I would like to get him on aggravated arson charges, which carries a higher sentencing," Andrea explained to her as Andy and Provenza stood there.

"He was convicted of arson among other things when he was 18 years old," Andy chimed in as the two women started walking towards Electronics. "That's over ten years ago, it has to be more recently, unfortunately," Andrea stated as she looked at Sharon and then Andy. "What happened to you, Lieutenant?" she asked him as she noticed the bruising on his neck. "Let's just say he didn't want to be arrested quietly," he mumbled to her and waited for Sharon before he entered the interview room. Andrea and Provenza both walked into Electronics to watch the interview.

Andy and Sharon walked into the interview room and saw Randall's new defense attorney sitting next to him. "Ah, hello Jennings," Andy muttered his greeting as he and Sharon sat down in the chairs across from them. "I understand my client confessed to starting around ten fires before he asked for an attorney," Jennings stated to them. "Your client waved his right to counsel and answered our questions freely," Sharon informed him.

"Right, but now he asked for an attorney and I'm here, so are you guys looking at a deal of some kind with this, or are we going to a trial?" Jennings asked them. "Well, your client, Randall Meijers, is going to be charged with arson," Sharon started to say. "Oh, that's easy, we'll make a deal for 3 years in prison and a fine," Jennings jumped to that conclusion but Sharon wasn't finished. Andy shook his head at the stupidity of the lawyer.

"Yeah, I don't think three years and a fine is good enough for the crime that your client admitted to us," Sharon continued. "Because, in setting those fires, not only did it cause damage to property, people lost their lives in those fires," she added. "I made sure no one was there at the fires I set. I made sure that the area was clear of any bodies. I didn't want to kill anyone, I just wanted to make a statement," Randall spoke up.

"You wanted to make a statement by burning several acres and threatening the livelihood of people's houses and daily activities?" Sharon stated to Randall as he sat there. "How many fires did you actually set, Randall?" Andy asked him. "I did set ten, some last year and the rest this year, like I said earlier," Randall stated.

"Where are you going with these questions? My client already confessed to starting the fires and you caught him earlier tonight setting one in Griffith Park. What else do you want from him?" Jennings interjected. "We have reason to believe that your client was not working alone with the last fire he set previous to tonight's," Sharon stated as she wanted to see if Randall would implicate Croelick in the La Tuna fire.

"I worked alone, no one else knew about it or helped me," Randall told them. "Then why did you mention the name Bill earlier when we spoke to you?" Sharon asked him. Randall sat back and sighed. "I met him in a bar a couple of months ago and we got to talking. I was there after I came off shift. Got bad news at the station that day about our fire pensions. Even though we're divorced, my ex-wife and my kids would be in line to get that money, and I couldn't let anything happen to that. I started talking about the fires that I started and told him I was planning a bigger one than anyone else had seen. He seemed interested and new a lot about fires. The next day there was a rally in front of City Hall and I saw him there," Randall stated.

"Why would you set fires then?" Andy asked him. Randall looked at Jennings and he nodded that he could answer. "Because I thought that if there were fires, then the fire fighters would become an important and invaluable job, so that these naysayers in charge of the pension system wouldn't dump it," Randall confessed as he held his head in his hands.

"We need a list of all the fires that he started and the approximate dates those occurred," Sharon said as she slid the notepad over to the other side of the table. "The Assistant DA will be in here shortly to conjure up a deal for your client," Sharon added and then stood up from the table and walked out of the room. Andy followed her and watched her as she met up with Andrea outside of Electronics.

"I can charge him with arson, possession of combustible material in preparation for arson, and unlawfully causing a fire, so far. I'll see what else I can come up with," Andrea stated and then walked towards the interview room. Andy nodded to her as she passed him in the hallway. "Let's close this case," he heard her tell Provenza as he walked out of Electronics. "Yes, Commander," he said as he watched her walk into her office.

Provenza gestured for everyone to close up this case as he stood there. Andy walked over to the Murder Board and started to take all of the pictures from the case down. He handed them to Amy who then placed them in a box. "I'll start on the paperwork for the arrest and everything else," Mike said as he sat down at his desk and worked on his computer.

It was closer to midnight by the time Andy knocked on Sharon's door. He stepped inside and saw her sitting at her desk signing some papers. "Everyone left already and I was wondering if you were finished?" he asked her in an almost shy voice. She looked up at him and smiled. "I am," she said as she finished signing her name to one of the reports. She then closed the file folder and placed them on the side of her desk.

She stood up and gathered her things. "Chief Mason called earlier. Said we did good work and informed me that Robbery/Homicide would be on call this weekend," she told him as she went to put her jacket on. Andy took it from her hands and held it open as she slipped her arms in the sleeves and he placed the jacket on her. "That's good to hear," he told her as she opened her office door and they walked out together.

It was after midnight, Wednesday morning by the time they got home. They were greeted by Moxie who met them at the back door of the house. Sharon hung up her coat and took her shoes off. She then made her way into the kitchen. Andy followed her there and came up behind her as she stood at the island. She was reading a note that Rusty had left them.

Andy started to move Sharon's hair to one side and kissed the exposed skin of her neck as she stood there. She hummed at his kisses and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her as she turned around in his arms. His eyes gave her his apology for everything that occurred yesterday. She pulled him closer to her and kissed his lips. They stood there for what seemed like minutes until they broke apart. "Let's wash this day off of us," Sharon suggested to him and then took his hand and lead him upstairs with her.

She led him into their bathroom and started the shower. He then reached for her and started to take her clothes off. She did the same to him and they climbed into the shower together. She looked at his neck and got a good glimpse of the bruising that occurred from Randall choking him. 'Another time she almost lost him,' she thought to herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Andy was caressing his hands all over her body as she stood underneath the water spray.

He reached over and poured her shower gel into his hands and began washing her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was being so gentle with her and she started to cry. Andy saw this and wiped the tear from her face. "Don't cry Sharon," he whispered to her and she shook her head. "I love you so much," she said as he looked at her. The soap was forgotten as they stood there under the water spray in a kiss.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks again everyone! There will be one more chapter after this one. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 11

The next morning, Andy stirred in his sleep and rolled over in their bed. He reached out with his hand for Sharon but she wasn't there. He opened his eyes and adjusted to the soft lamp that had been turned on sitting on Sharon's night stand. He propped himself up on his right arm and wondered where Sharon had gone to. He listened for any noise coming from the bathroom but realized that the door was open and the light was off.

He then laid back down on his back for a few seconds before he swung his legs over the side of their bed and sat up. He rubbed his hand over his face and then stood up and stretched, trying to gets the kinks out of his back. He reached over to pick up his pajama pants that had been tossed on the floor from last night and put them on. He threw on his shirt as well. He then looked around their room to see if maybe Sharon had stepped out on their balcony but the door was shut and locked.

Andy then made his way out into the hallway and figured Sharon was downstairs as the hallway light was on down there. He took the steps one at a time, listening to hear if he could tell where Sharon was. He made his way to the first floor and saw Moxie in the kitchen wagging his tail. He knew that Moxie would be with Sharon so he made his way towards the kitchen. Sharon was sitting at the island on one of the stools, drinking a cup of tea that she made.

As Andy came closer to her, he saw her wearing his teal blue dress shirt. "Hey," he said quietly as to not startle her. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hi, I'm sorry if I woke you," she said to him as he joined her at the island. "Is everything okay?" he glanced at her and the tea box that was out. She only drank chamomile tea when something was upsetting her and she needed to relax. "My mind was thinking and then, I couldn't sleep," she told him as she took a sip of her tea.

He understood but had hoped that their recent love making after they got out of the shower would have been enough to ease her mind. God knows she wore him out last night. He reached over and touched her hand. She opened her hand and he held her hand in his. He gently caressed her hand with his thumb while he watched her sit there. "Want to talk about it?" he offered her and she looked at him.

She took a deep breath and then nodded her head. He waited until she was ready and listened to her when she started. "This whole business with Croelick has been bothering me and the fact that we don't' have enough evidence on him is troubling," she started to say. Andy knew exactly what she was going through. Heck, he went through that years ago when Croelick got out of jail on a technicality. "I can't believe I'm saying this but a guy like Croelick is going to mess up again and eventually, he will get caught. I just hope I'm there to see it and bring him to justice finally," Andy told her as he bent his head to catch her eyes.

"Is Croelick the only thing that's bothering you, sweetheart?" Andy asked her as she met his eyes. "No," she whispered and placed her cup back on the counter. She looked at his bruises around his neck and reached out with her free hand to lightly touch them. "I don't know if I can do this anymore," her voice cracked. He looked at her. "Do what anymore?" he asked as he took both of her hands in his.

She looked down at their joined hands and ran her thumb over his. "Send you out in harm's way, I don't think I can do that anymore, I don't want to lose you," and the tears started to fall again. Andy pulled her into his arms and held her. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay, I'm right here," he whispered to her as he held her close to him.

"It's part of the job, Sharon. You and I both know the risks but we do it anyway," he whispered and she nodded her head against his shoulder. "We both took an oath to serve and protect. I know the dangers, you do as well, but we still go out there every day and fight the good fight. We fight for the innocent and the ones that have no voice," he continued.

Andy held her there as her cries subsided and then asked her a question he had been contemplating. "Do you want to retire?" he asked and she shook her head no. "Do you want me to retire?" he asked and again, she shook her head no. He sat there still holding her in his arms and thought about what to say next to her.

"Sharon? Sweetheart?" he whispered and she moved her body so that she could look him in his eyes. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm a complete mess," she told him as she wiped her eyes with her hand. "No, I don't," he told her as he looked at her. "I think you're beautiful, and intelligent, and sexy as hell," he smiled as she sat there on his lap. She shook her head. He cupped her face with his hands and she focused on his eyes. "I do," he whispered and then pulled her in for a gentle kiss on her lips.

They both sat there in the kitchen for a few minutes. "I'm sorry I got your t-shirt all wet," Sharon said as she smoothed out his shirt. "Don't worry about it," he told her as he brushed her hair away from her eyes. "Do you feel better?" he asked her and she nodded. "Yes, I do, thank you," she whispered and then she stood up from him and held out her hand for him to take.

They returned back upstairs to their bedroom and Moxie followed them. Sharon climbed into bed, still wearing Andy's dress shirt and waited until Andy joined her. She snuggled against him and he held her close to his body for the rest of the night.

Later that morning, Sharon was getting herself ready for work. She was in their closet trying to find something to wear while Andy was shaving in the bathroom. She walked out with a pink shirt and her black pants suit. She held one of Andy's ties in her hand and walked into the bathroom. She stood there at the doorway watching Andy as he carefully shaved his face. The marks on his neck from him being choked were more visible this morning.

"Hey, I thought this tie would go well with my pink shirt I'm wearing," she said as she held up his tie for him to see. "Perfect," he said as he wiped the shaving cream off of his face. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his smooth face. She then traced her fingers down his jaw and then down his neck, careful not to press too hard. "Does that hurt you this morning?" she asked him and he shook his head no. He then turned around as she let go of him and put on his dress shirt. She then wrapped his tie around his neck and placed it underneath his collar and tied it for him.

He smiled at her when she smoothed down his tie and then he bent down and kissed her. They left the bathroom and Andy went to their closet to put his weapon, badge, and handcuffs on his belt. He then grabbed his suit jacket and walked out of their bedroom to join Sharon who was now downstairs. Sharon was speaking to Nicole on the phone while she was putting together some cut up fruit for them to eat with their breakfast. "Yes, we will be picking Matthew up from the day camp this afternoon. We really appreciated your help these past couple of days," she said as she moved through the kitchen.

"Okay, good. I just dropped him off with the boys and they were excited to be going on a behind the scenes tour of Dodger Stadium this morning," Nicole told Sharon. Sharon watched Andy walk into the kitchen and placed the bowl of fruit on the table. Sharon chuckled. "Well, I know of one fan who would be disappointed in not being able to tag along," she said, catching Andy's curiosity as she hung up her phone.

"What's going on?" he asked her as he sat down at the table. "Oh, well it seems that the boys along with our son, are going on the behind the scenes tour of Dodger Stadium this morning with their day camp," Sharon told him and he immediately made a pout. "What?" he said and left his mouth open for dramatic purposes. "Close your mouth dear," Sharon teased him as she gently pushed his lower lip closed with her finger.

They ate breakfast together, Andy still pouted here and there. He wished that he didn't have to go in to work today and then he could be a chaperone with the day camp. Sharon shook her head at his suggestion. "Sorry, but you are going to work today," she said as she stood up from the table and cleared her plate. He sighed as he stood up and did the same.

They headed out the door and walked to the garage. Sharon saw Rusty walking down the steps from his apartment above the garage as she walked down the path. "Morning Rusty," she said to him as he made his way to the last step. "Morning Mom," he said and then paused for a moment. "Something wrong?" she asked him. "No, just making sure I have everything I need this morning. Andrea wanted me to stop by the office this morning before I join her at court," he said as he looked through his messenger bag.

He then started to walk to the driveway and waved to Sharon and Andy as he walked. "Bye!" he said as he got in his car and drove away. Sharon joined Andy at their car. "Everything okay with him?" Andy asked her as they got in their car. "I think so, he's really enjoying this internship with Andrea," Sharon said as Andy started the car and pulled out of the garage.

As Andy drove, he couldn't help but think of why they had to let Croelick go. He was beginning to think Croelick was his white whale. Someone he kept chasing but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get him. Sharon looked at Andy as he drove and could tell something was bothering him. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him. He shook his head. "You don't want to know," he mumbled as he continued driving them to work.

Sharon looked out the window at the Los Angeles downtown skyline and then back at Andy. "We'll get him; we just need to find concrete evidence and time was not on our side with holding him," she said and then paused for a second before continuing. "And I blame myself for that, because I didn't want him out on the streets while we were trying to catch Randall, so I threw up whatever holding charge I could to keep him in jail," she continued.

"Don't blame yourself, please?" Andy told her as they got off at their exit for the PAB building. She smiled. "I won't if you won't," she told him. "We know where he's living, and we know he won't be far away," Sharon contemplated in her head and out loud. "Because he's obsessed with you," Andy muttered and Sharon threw him a look. "I know him, once he sees someone he likes, he won't stop. I don't know how many times he was found sitting on Chief Johnson's porch or in her house!" Andy told her as he pulled into the parking garage.

"It was kind of creepy he was outside our house," Sharon quietly stated and Andy placed the car in park. "Yeah, about that," Andy started to say as he scratched his head with his finger. "Next time you see Croelick, please let me know right away and not keep it some secret, okay?" he continued. Sharon nodded. "Okay," she whispered, and then they both stepped out of the car and headed upstairs to their office.

"You don't think he would show up at our house again, do you?" Sharon asked as they stepped out of the elevator. Andy took a deep breath. He thought about that, but they couldn't live in fear that Croelick would show up on their doorstep one day. They both had played that when Stroh had disappeared all those years ago, only to show up in Monterey where they had gone on a vacation after Andy's health scare.

"No, he knows that we would be on to him if he showed up there again, I think he's going to try to lay low now," Andy told her as he held the door open for her to their office. When they arrived inside the Murder Room, everyone was busy at their desks. Provenza looked up from his desk at Sharon and Andy as they walked in. "Ah, good morning Commander, Flynn," he said as he waved to them. Andy was a little skeptical at Provenza waving at them but he decided to shrug it off until he had gotten to his desk.

"Morning, Lieutenant, is there anything going on?" Sharon asked Provenza as she walked towards her office and Provenza still sat at his desk. "No, nothing unusual for the morning," he answered her and she went into her office. Andy placed his keys inside his desk drawer and walked over to Provenza's desk. "Why are you so cheery this morning?" Andy asked him and Provenza looked up from his crossword puzzle. "Cheery? I'm not cheery this morning, am I Julio?" Provenza asked out loud to the group.

Julio looked over at Provenza from his desk and gave him a strange look. "Uh, no sir, you're not cheery," Julio smirked and continued to do what he was doing at his desk. "See Flynn, I'm not cheery, must be your imagination," Provenza told him and then returned to his crossword puzzle book. Andy stared at Provenza with a skeptical look again. He then returned back to his desk and sat down.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. The team did not catch a case and by the time four o'clock rolled around, Sharon had told her team to head home. Provenza was the first one to make a move. "Great! I am out of here, Patrice and I have a little date tonight!" he said to everyone. "That's why you were cheery this morning!" Andy stated as he watched his best friend gather all of his things for the night. "Where are you taking Patrice tonight?" Mike asked him.

"Well, she and I are going to a small diner that we both love and then we'll probably go home and watch something on the TV," Provenza said. "How is that a date? Don't you do that every night?" Andy asked him as he stood by his desk. "You should talk Flynn!" Provenza yammered back and pointed his finger at Andy. "With all of your non-dates that you and the Commander had over the years before you asked her out on a real date!" he added and Andy looked at him.

"And for your information Flynn, I was happy this morning because I actually get to eat whatever I want tonight at the diner, and you know how much I look forward to doing that!" Provenza said and then started to walk out of the office. "Good night everyone!" he waved and left. Andy shook his head as he sat back down at his desk. "Night everyone!" Amy said to the rest of them as she headed out of the office.

Julio had left the office right after Amy, which left Buzz, Mike and Andy outside and Sharon still in her office. "Hey Buzz, got a second?" Mike asked him as he sat at his desk. "Cathy's working late tonight so I can show you this latest computer program if you'd like. It may help you at your next Reserve Officer training session," Mike told Buzz. "Thank you Lieutenant!" Buzz said as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Mike.

Sharon stepped out of her office and walked up behind Andy. She placed her hand on his shoulder which brought him out of his thoughts. "Ready?" he asked her as he looked up at her standing behind him. "Yes, let's go pick up Matthew, dinner, and head home," she told him, and he stood up from his desk and took his keys out of his desk drawer. "Good night guys!" Sharon and Andy both said to Mike and Buzz as they left the office. "Night," they heard back and then walked into the hallway and headed towards the elevator holding each other's hands.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks again everyone! This is the last chapter of this story. I'm going on vacation this week and when I come back next week, I should be ready to publish the next story, as most of it is already written. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story. Thank you all for the great reviews!

Chapter 12

Andy and Sharon pulled up to the day camp where Matthew was attending during the summer. He seemed to be enjoying that and it also helped that his cousins, Colin and Avery, were also attending the same summer camp. A car next to theirs pulled up and Andy looked over to his left and saw it was Nicole. She waved to her dad and he waved back. Sharon stepped out of the car but Andy stayed inside. Nicole walked over to his side and he rolled down the window.

"Hi sweetie," Andy said to her as she leaned down to greet him. She took a glance and saw the bruise on his neck. "Dad!" she gasped. "What happened to your neck?" she asked as she covered her mouth with her hand. "Nothing, I'm fine, really. Our suspect didn't want to be arrested and, it's a long story," he started to explain to her but didn't want to get into details.

Nicole sighed and shook her head. She then walked around the car to where Sharon was standing and greeted her. "Hi Sharon," they hugged each other. "Nicole, thank you for taking care of Matthew while we were working this latest case," Sharon told her. "So I take it you guys solved it?" Nicole asked as she turned to look at the kids lining up at the camp. "Yes, we did," Sharon sighed and Nicole could tell something else was bothering her step-mother.

"What happened with him?" Nicole pointed to Andy sitting in the car still. "He's fine Nicole, I made sure he was checked over by the paramedics that were on the scene, nothing's damaged," Sharon reassured her step-daughter.

Just then, the kids were dismissed from camp and Matthew, Colin, and Avery all ran towards the group of parents. Matthew looked over and saw Sharon waiting next to Nicole and he practically sprinted over to them. "Mom!" he yelled out as he approached Sharon and he ran right into her arms and gave her a hug. "Oh Matthew," Sharon huffed out as she hugged him. "Where's Dad?" he asked. "He's in the car," Sharon turned around and opened the back door for Matthew.

She then waved to Nicole as Nicole gathered her boys and they walked to the other side of the car where Andy was still sitting. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Do you know where we went today?" Avery and Colin said in unison. Andy laughed at his step-grandkids and their enthusiasm from the whole day. "Um, let me guess, Dodger Stadium?" Andy took a moment to make it more dramatic for them.

"Yep!" the boys said and then piled in the car when Nicole told them to get inside. Nicole then leaned through the window and gave her dad a kiss on his cheek. "Please be careful, I know your job can be dangerous, but it's been crazy these past couple of months with you," Nicole begged her dad and he nodded.

Andy then turned around to look at Matthew who had climbed in the car. "So, did you enjoy Dodger Stadium too?" he asked him. Matthew's face lit up and nodded his head yes. "It was so much fun! We got to go behind the scenes and we went down into the dugout and locker room area. First we walked down this tunnel which lead us to the field. We walked on the grass in the outfield and got to run the bases too!" Matthew was non-stop talking about his day.

Andy glanced at Sharon as he drove them home and she gave him a smile and held his free hand as they both listened to Matthew.

They had decided to make dinner at home rather than opting to pick up take out somewhere and by the time they had arrived, Matthew had fallen asleep in the back seat. Andy pulled the car into the garage and turned it off. He then looked in the back and saw Matthew, sleeping with his mouth open as if there wasn't a care in the world.

"He's out," he whispered to Sharon as he turned to face her. "I'll gather our things while you bring him in?" she asked and then went to open her door. Andy sat there and watched her gather her purse and bag before he stepped out of the car and walked around to the back seat. He opened the door and leaned inside, grabbing Matthew's backpack, and handed it to Sharon. She smiled and kissed him on his cheek before heading towards the house.

Andy then looked at Matthew. He was going to try to get him to wake up so that it would be easier than trying to carry him all the way to the house. "Matthew?" Andy nudged him gently a couple of times before he woke up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his dad. "Hey buddy, we're home now," Andy told him and Matthew stretched his arms over his head and then undid his seatbelt.

"Did you catch the bad guy?" Matthew asked him as he climbed out of the car. Andy shut the back door and nodded to Matthew. "Yep, we did, but one of the bad guys, we had to let go," Andy spoke about Croelick. "Why?" Matthew wondered as they started walking towards the house. "Because sometimes, that happens, but we'll catch him again," Andy told him. "I hope," he muttered under his breath as Matthew walked into the house.

Moxie happily greeted Matthew as he entered the kitchen and he petted the dog. "Why don't you go wash your hands, get off all those germs you probably picked up today," Sharon told him and he ran to the bathroom on the first floor. Moxie ran after him.

Sharon was preparing dinner, they had decided on soup and sandwiches. It was something simple after a couple of hectic days. Andy was at the stove, pouring the contents of the soup can into the pot when Matthew came back into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and Moxie sat in front of him and wanted to be petted again.

"Mom, you know that guy that was outside our house a couple of nights ago?" Matthew started to say as he continued to pet Moxie. Sharon glanced at Andy and gave him a worried look before she turned around to look at Matthew. "Yes, sweetie, what about him?" she asked as she stopped making a sandwich.

"I saw him today," Matthew innocently said to them as he continued to pet Moxie. "Wait, what?" Sharon worried and walked around the island counter and sat down next to Matthew at the table. Andy turned the stove burner on low and joined them, standing behind Sharon.

"The guy that was outside and you said he was a friend of yours and daddy's, I saw him today," Matthew again stated. He didn't think it was a big deal since his mom had told him that night that the guy was their friend.

"Did he say anything to you?" Sharon asked as she started into panic mother mode. "No," Matthew answered seeing that his mom was starting to panic as he watched her look at his dad. "Where did you see him?" Andy asked as he placed his hand on Sharon's shoulder to try to relax her and to calm him down as well.

"At the park where we went swimming," Matthew looked at both of them. He could see his dad's face starting to turn red. "Am I in trouble for telling you this?" he asked them. "No, sweetie, you're not in trouble," Sharon reassured him and then glanced up at Andy who let out a deep sigh as he stood there.

The soup started to boil over and make a hissing sound. Andy turned around and saw it. "Shit!" he muttered under his breath as he rushed over to the stove and turned it off. Croelick had been at the same pool that Matthew's day camp was at today as he stood there and thought about that.

"Sweetie did he do anything while you saw him or was there anything that stood out while you were there?" Sharon asked Matthew as they sat there. She glanced over at the stove and saw Andy leaning over the stove. She turned her attention back to Matthew, wondering if she had missed his response. "No," he shrugged his shoulders.

Sharon stood up and walked over to where Andy was standing at the stove. He had gotten two bowls out of the cabinet and had poured some soup into each of them. "Here, for you and Matthew," he handed her the bowls one by one. She took them to the table and then turned around to see what Andy was doing. He was now finishing the sandwiches that Sharon had started to make. He placed them on a plate and handed them to Sharon.

"You're not eating?" she asked as she looked at the two sandwiches. "I'm not hungry all of a sudden. I think I'm going to catch a meeting instead," he told her and she understood. "I'll be back," he told them and then grabbed his keys from the island where he left them earlier. He stopped for a second and gave Sharon a kiss on her cheek. He then ruffled Matthew's hair before he left the house.

Matthew looked up and saw his dad walking out of the house. "Where's Dad going?" he asked as he ate his soup. Sharon sighed and closed her eyes. "He's going to one of his meetings but he'll be back," she told him as she sat there and worried about him.

Andy got in the car and backed out of their driveway. This wasn't his usual night for his meeting but he needed to do something before he exploded with rage. Bad enough they had to let Croelick walk free because they didn't have enough evidence to charge him, but then to find out that he was at the same place where Matthew was today, it was just too much for him.

He knew that there was a meeting being held at the Lutheran Church hall just down the street from their house. The meeting started in fifteen minutes and he had gotten there in plenty of time. He pulled into the parking lot and walked inside the church hall.

As he entered the building, he saw empty chairs in the back and decided to sit there instead of where he normally sat in meetings, towards the front. The meeting started and Andy sat there listening to whoever was speaking at the time.

Meanwhile, back at home, Sharon and Matthew had finished their dinner and they had both changed their clothes. Sharon was now back downstairs and cleaning up the kitchen. She had put the leftover soup into a container, thinking that once Andy came back from his meeting, he'd be hungry.

She tidied up the rest of the kitchen and then headed into the family room where Matthew was watching TV. "Would you like to watch a movie?" she asked him as she leaned over the couch where he was sitting. "Yes! Let's watch this!" Matthew said as he jumped off the couch and handed Sharon the DVD of _The Incredibles_.

Sharon looked at the DVD and wondered when they had picked this movie up. "Dad and I picked it up last time we went to the store. Some kids at the day camp were talking about it and it sounded good," Matthew smiled and Sharon laughed at that thought. "Okay, let's see what this is about," she said as she popped the DVD into the player and sat down on the couch with Matthew.

She read the back of the DVD jacket and knew that Matthew was in to anything dealing with super heroes. She hit play and the movie began. Matthew settled close to Sharon. "I missed you and Daddy the past couple of nights," he mumbled as they watched the movie. "I know, sweetie, I'm sorry we had to work late," she played with his hair.

Back at the meeting, Andy sat there listening to another person speaking about their struggle with alcohol. After they were done talking, the moderator stood up and asked if there was anyone else who wanted to share anything. Andy didn't say anything and the meeting ended about an hour later.

Andy stepped outside and headed towards the car. He sat behind the wheel but didn't start the car yet. He didn't want a drink; he just wanted to punch something. He took a couple of deep breaths as he sat there and then pulled out his phone.

Sharon's phone alerted her to a text message from Andy. She looked at her phone that was sitting on the arm of the couch. 'I'm okay, but I just feel like punching something right now' was the message Andy had sent her. She picked up her phone and texted him back. 'Come home, we can talk about it' was what she had sent to him.

After about five minutes of silence, he texted her back. 'Ok' was his reply. She placed her phone back in her pocket and started to stand up. "Where are you going?" Matthew asked as he paused the movie. "Daddy's on his way home, I just want to make sure he's okay and that he has some food to eat," she told him as she walked around the couch.

Matthew watched her and gave her his sad eyes look. "Oh sweetie, you can still watch the movie," she stopped and told him. "But I thought we were going to watch this together?" he said almost whining. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Continue watching the movie, Matthew, and I promise I will come back and watch the rest of it with you, okay?" Sharon tried to compromise with him. He turned back around and un-paused the movie.

Sharon saw his car pull up the driveway as she made her way into the kitchen and waited for him in there. When he walked back inside the house, his tie was lose around his neck and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He walked in the kitchen and saw her standing there waiting for him.

"Hi," he said sheepishly. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him as he stepped closer to her. "No, not really," was his response. "Are you hungry now?" she asked and he shook his head no. He then stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in a hug. Sharon closed her eyes as he hugged her.

"When Matthew said he saw Croelick today, I guess that threw me for a loop," he mumbled into her shoulder. "I felt rage and was feeling consumed by it," he added as he moved his face towards her neck. "I thought a meeting would help me," he muttered as he pulled his face away to look at her. "And did it?" she wondered as she waited for a response. "No," he simply said, almost ashamed of that answer.

"Do you want a drink?" she questioned him, knowing what that answer was already but she needed him to say it out loud to her. "No, of course not!" he huffed at her and she was grateful at his answer. She could tell he was getting agitated so she calmed him down by playing with his tie.

Sharon then ran her hand along his jaw and he looked at her. "What did you tell me this morning? That a guy like Croelick is going to mess up again and is going to get caught?" she gave him a small smile. He bowed his head. "What you've taught me is that I'm not going to give up on this case," she added and then pulled his head back up to look at her. "When we gather enough evidence against Croelick, and I believe we will, and then we can arrest him," she wanted him to know that she was on his side ever since they had to let Croelick go in the interview room.

"I just, was it just a coincidence that he was there at the park pool today?" Andy questioned but it sounded more like a defeat. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What's Matthew watching?" he asked her as he moved back a little to give her some space. "The Incredibles," she smiled. "Oh, yeah, he wanted to see that movie so I bought it for him the last time we went to the store together," Andy chuckled.

Sharon pulled on his tie. "Why don't you go change and then join us for the rest of the movie," she suggested to him. He started to walk with her, but instead of going upstairs to change he followed her into the family room. He took off his suit jacket and laid it down on the back of a chair. He then toed off his shoes and undid his tie, laying it on top of his suit jacket.

Sharon watched him and then returned to her seat on the couch. Andy followed her but sat on the other end, leaving Matthew in the middle of them.

By the time the movie ended, Matthew was curled up into Andy's side and Sharon had moved closer to the both of them. She looked down at Matthew, who was sleeping and then glanced at Andy. She saw he was sleeping too. She reached over for the remote and turned off both the TV and DVD player. Moxie sat up from where he was lying on the floor and watched what she was doing.

Sharon stood up slowly and grabbed a blanket from the other chair and placed it around her sleeping boys. She then motioned for Moxie to follow her and she took him outside for a potty break. When they came back inside, Sharon went back to the family room to check on both of them before she headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Moxie went to resume his spot next to Andy.

Moxie nudged his head underneath Andy's hand and that woke him up. He opened his eyes and saw that the TV was off and there was a blanket over him and Matthew. Matthew was still sleeping as Andy moved off of the couch. His movement made Matthew stir and he started to rub his eyes.

"Daddy," he mumbled as he woke up and stretched. "Hey kiddo, let's head upstairs, it's late and the couch isn't comfortable," Andy persuaded him into climbing off of the couch. "And take Moxie with you," he called out to Matthew and Moxie followed the boy up the stairs.

Andy grabbed his suit jacket and tie as he left the family room and headed to the back of the house to make sure everything was locked up for the night. He then checked the front door before heading upstairs himself.

Matthew was already in bed by the time Andy came upstairs and he had said good night to him. Andy closed his door and headed across the hall to their bedroom. When he stepped inside, he found Sharon already sleeping on her side of the bed. He quietly went into the bathroom and changed his clothes. Wearing his pajama pants and a t-shirt, he made his way to their bed and slid in trying not to disturb Sharon.

As he laid his head down on his pillow, Sharon moved closer to his body and wrapped her arm around him. He moved his left arm so that she could be more comfortable and she laid her head on his left shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her. He could tell she was awake as he laid there with her in their bed.

She listened to his heart beating as she moved her head closer to his chest and settled in. "You okay?" he whispered and at first it startled her to hear his voice in the silence. "Yes," she whispered and he took a deep breath. "I wish you would talk to me and tell me what's on your mind," she told him after a few minutes of silence between them.

He sighed as he pulled her closer to him. "I did," he muttered, barely above a whisper. Sharon didn't like his answer so she decided she would push the issue and hopefully they would come to a better understanding.

"No, I mean tell me what's really on your mind. What has you troubled that a meeting didn't help you?" she pushed him, knowing that he was ready to push back.

"I told you already!" Andy's voice became louder. Sharon propped herself up on her elbow as he tried to sit up. "I didn't like the fact that Croelick was at that pool. When Matthew told us he saw him there, it was like I couldn't breathe! Wondering if Croelick would have done something to him. Then the stupid soup boiled over so I had to get that taken care of, and then I just felt overwhelmed and I needed to leave!" he finally came out with it.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed and she was still propped up on her elbow. Her other hand was gently rubbing his back. "I felt like I couldn't even protect him from Croelick, and if that's the case, then I," he paused and thought about what he was going to say next as he sat there.

Sharon scooted behind him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him gently in a hug.

"I know Croelick's the bad guy, you know it, heck, he even knows that, but why can't we get him? Have something stick to him like glue so that he can't get off on a technicality or lack of evidence, why?" his voice was back to a whisper as he closed his eyes and sat there in her embrace.

"Even super heroes have their evil nemesis. Yours is Croelick," her voice was muffled a little by his shoulder but he heard her. They sat there through the night as Sharon held Andy in her embrace.

The End


End file.
